PHOENIX, Feb. 9, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Call center employees at American Express Travel Related Services, a subsidiary of American Express, filed a class action lawsuit alleging the company required them to work off the clock and through their lunch breaks without compensation.
The suit, filed yesterday in Arizona, alleges that American Express is in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). Call center employees working as customer service representatives were required to work overtime as well as work during unpaid lunch breaks without being compensated for those hours.
According to the suit, American Express knowingly violated the FLSA when it intentionally failed to include time worked at the beginning and end of shifts as well as during unpaid breaks, in the employees' wages.
"Travel Related Services' pay policies don't allow call center employees to count as time worked things most workers would get paid to do…like talking to American Express' clients," said Anne Regan of Zimmerman Reed, the law firm hired to represent the employees. "They are clearly owed these unpaid wages."
American Express Travel is a wholly owned subsidiary of American Express, which is headquartered in New York City.
Current or former employees can get more information about the complaint by contacting attorney Anne Regan at (800) 238-0661 or visiting www.zimmreed.com.