Zillow settles for $6m in overtime suit
Online realtor Zillow, based in Seattle, recently settled a class-action lawsuit filed by an Irvine, California employee who accused the company of failing to pay overtime.
Credit: Zillow
The suit was settled in May, but the terms of the settlement were not disclosed until Monday, stated a story in the Orange County Register. The suit also accused the company of pressuring employees to skip breaks for lunch and rest. The settlement was contingent on a review of Zillow by the US Labor Department to be in compliance with the Federal Labor Standards Act. Terms of future compliance were reached, affecting ad sales for the company and employees in California and Washington state.
The case of Ian Freeman vs Zillow, Inc. was settled in the US District Court, Central Division of California. It had claimed that “Zillow failed to provide meal and rest breaks, failed to pay overtime, and failed to keep accurate records of employees’ hours worked, in compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and California law with respect to certain inside sales consultants,” according to a story on GeekWire. The class-action suit included approximately 120 hourly sales consultants working in Irvine. They stated in the case that they were pressured into working early, late and through lunch breaks without pay.
The settlement with Zillow came after the company agreed “to make the voluntary payments contemplated by the Freeman settlement and establish and maintain certain procedures to promote future compliance with the FLSA.”
“We worked closely with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to quickly and effectively resolve this situation,” Zillow said in a statement to GeekWire. “Prior to the DOL’s review, we had already made the necessary improvements to our timekeeping system and employee education processes to ensure accurate tracking and reporting of time. By reaching a settlement with the DOL, we are also able to finalize a separate settlement agreement we previously reached in the Freeman class action litigation that will provide back-wages to certain employees. Zillow will not be required to make any payments in addition to those sales employees already contemplated in the Freeman class action settlement. Our people are our greatest asset, and we work hard to create an environment that is inclusive, rewarding and complies with the law.”