Comcast Corp. named in class action alleging FLSA violations

Comcast Corp. is facing a class action lawsuit alleging the cable giant violated the Fair Labor Standards Act when it failed to pay overtime wages to a large number of employees at its Horsham, Pa. location.

Karis Rouse, a Bucks County man who was hired by Comcast at a sales representative on Jan. 1, 2010, and who later became a sales supervisor, claims in his lawsuit that the company failed to pay him and about 100 other workers time-and-a-half for each hour they worked in excess of 40 per week.

Rouse also says he and the members of the proposed class, which numbers at least 100 current and former employees, routinely performed work before and after their respective scheduled shifts without proper compensation.

Comcast, the complaint alleges, misclassified the plaintiff and the class members as “exempt” under the Fair Labor Standards Act, and therefore concluded that the employees were not entitled to overtime compensation.

The complaint also accuses Comcast of violating the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act and the state’s Wage Payment and Collection Law.

The plaintiff, who is black, also has a federal civil rights claim in the lawsuit, claiming that while under the supervision of a manager named Erin Kaighn, he experienced disparate and discriminatory treatment because of his race.

According to the complaint, Rouse was told in mid-October of last year that his employment was being terminated because one of his subordinates was allegedly coming in to work before his approved starting time and working when he shouldn’t have been.

White supervisors in the plaintiff’s position have routinely allowed subordinates to come in and work before their shifts, but they were never disciplined or terminated, the lawsuit alleges.

Rouse says he was replaced following his firing by a white individual.

The plaintiff seeks at least $150,000 in compensatory damages along with unspecified punitive damages, interest, costs and attorney’s fees.

Rouse also seeks relief on behalf of himself and the proposed class members in the form of unpaid wages and liquidated damages.

The complaint was filed by Philadelphia attorney Michael P. Murphy, Jr.

 

The federal case number is 2:14-cv-01115-CDJ.