Apple Sued by Former Employee for Non-Compensation of Overtime Work

The Cupertino, Calif.-based Mac maker is facing a lawsuit from one of its former employees, with the suit alleging that Apple has failed to pay proper wages for overtime work, AppleInsider reports. According to the filings, the company allegedly demanded its employees to work 40 extra hours per week and then failed to compensate.

The class-action lawsuit was filed in a U.S. District Court in Miami, Florida this week on behalf of former Apple employee Kenyon Zahner and other unnamed plaintiffs, the Apple-focused site reports. With the plaintiffs requesting a trial by jury, Apple is accused of violating the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Based on these claims, the employees say they are entitled to compensation for the extra hours they put in for Apple.

"During Plaintiff's employment, Defendant (Apple) required Plaintiff (Zahner), a non-exempt employee under the FLSA, and others similarly situated, to work in excess of forty (40) hours per work-week, and willfully refused to compensate Plaintiff, and others similarly situated, for all such work pursuant to the FLSA," reads an excerpt from the four-page suit, which offers little to no information about the plaintiff’s actual position with the company, or whether he worked at one of the Mac maker’s retail stores.

Also (perhaps) unsatisfactory is that Zahner and his co-plaintiffs were unable to report the exact amount of overtime they believe they had put in for Apple, hence making it difficult to determine the compensation owed by the Mac maker (if the suit moves forward, of course). The suit only alleges that the hours worked by the employees are in the "exclusive possession and sole custody and control" of Apple, and that the employees are entitled to time-and-a-half pay for their overtime work, AppleInsider reports.

“The Plaintiff, however, will exert diligent efforts to obtain such information by appropriate discovery proceedings, to be taken promptly in this case," the suit also reveals. The plaintiffs are asking for compensation according to the FLSA, including liquidated damages and coverage of attorney costs and court fees. Apple is yet to respond to the accusations brought forth by Zahner and fellow plaintiffs.