posted on Thursday, April 27, 2006 2:52 PM
by
Rod Satterwhite
Going Into Overtime on Overtime
Here's one that hopefully won't impact the release of Madden 2006: In its second such case in less than a year, Electronic Arts, Inc. this week agreed to settle a class action overtime dispute with a group of computer programmers. The current and former employee plaintiffs alleged that the gaming industry juggernaut misclassified them as exempt employees to satisfy California overtime laws and avoid paying overtime. The class argued that, because they neither had creative control nor management responsibility, they were not exempt. Maintaining its compliance with the law, EA agreed to pay $14.9 million to the class to settle. This settlement comes on the heels of a similar one from last October, where EA agreed to pay $15.6 million to a class of graphic artists.