Summary:
Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP, along with co-counsel, Nichols Kaster, PLLP, filed a class and collective action lawsuit on July 7, 2015 against Assurance Wireless, LLC (“Assurance Wireless”) and Wallace Morgan, Inc. (“Wallace Morgan”). Assurance Wireless is a national wireless service provider headquartered in New Jersey and is owned by Virgin Mobile USA, L.P., which, in turn, is owned by the Sprint Corporation. Wallace Morgan is wireless phone provider that partners with Assurance Wireless to gather applications from consumers who wish to enroll in the Lifeline Assistance Program, a federal program that offers wireless phones and phone services to low income consumers. These wireless phones are commonly referred to as “Obama Phones”.
The lawsuit claims that Assurance Wireless and Wallace Morgan willfully misclassify their workers as “independent contractors” and fail to pay the proper minimum wage for all hours worked, and fail to pay overtime compensation for hours worked over forty per work week as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act (the “FLSA”) and the New York Labor Law (the “NYLL”), and seeks damages and statutory penalties for such violations.
Affected employees include any account executives, corporate trainers, or other similarly situated employees whose job was to gather applications for enrollment in the Lifeline Program through Assurance Wireless or Wallace Morgan within the last six years.
Plaintiffs Allege Assurance Wireless and Wallace Morgan misclassified workers as “independent contractors” and gave workers titles such as “account executives” and “corporate trainers”, and were paid a flat rate of 10 dollars per consumer that enrolls in the Lifeline Assistance Program. It is argued that these positions are actually entry level, low skill jobs that did not require workers to have previous experience in sales, or any prior executive experience or training experience. Due to this, Plaintiffs allege they were actually employees of Assurance Wireless and Wallace Morgan and thus are entitled to minimum wage for all hours worked and overtime compensation for all hours worked over forty per work week as required by the FLSA and the NYLL. The lawsuit claims that the flat rate of 10 dollars per completed application does not equate to minimum wage, and workers received no overtime pay. In addition, the lawsuit seeks to recover all NYLL statutory damages for Defendants’ failure to provide annual wage notices and accurate wage statements.
Current and former account executives, corporate trainers, or other similarly situated employees should contact Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP at (212) 300-0375 to see if you are eligible to join the case.