• 24
  • June
    2010

Last week, Charter Communications reached a deal with field technicians in California and eight other states, settling a large number of wage and hour claims that had been collected into a massive class action lawsuit. Originally filed in 2008, the initial claim accused Charter of failure to pay overtime and compensate employees for a large number of duties performed outside the general field technician scope.

Filed in Madison, the lawsuit quickly gained class-action status, collecting wage and hour claims from across the country. In total, about 8,000 current and former Charter employees took part in the lawsuit.

All in all, Charter will be shelling out $18 million in the settlement. That amounts to about $2000 per person involved in the suit.

As is common for most companies who choose to settle wage and hour claims, Charter agreed to pay the amount without admitting to underpaying employees. Instead, representatives grounded their decision in the desire to avoid a lengthy and costly trial.

In a press release sent out by the company afterwards, Charter reinforced its claim that it has always fairly and accurately compensated its employees.

Charter Communications is a large, nationwide company providing Internet, telephone and television service to consumers from Madison, Wisconsin to San Francisco, California. Its reputation in those markets varies, but has been dinged before with complaints related to poor service and product quality.

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