BALTIMORE — A Comcast Corp. subsidiary, Comcast Cable Communications Management LLC, has been accused of destroying evidence in its proposed class action overtime pay lawsuit. The plaintiffs, call center employees, are requesting sanctions in a Maryland federal court. In their request, they allege Comcast knowingly failed to retain and preserve computer logs vital to their claim under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Maryland state law. As a result of the destruction of evidence, the plaintiffs are requesting a default judgment in their favor.
The Wage Claims
The call center employees, primarily customer account executives (CAE), are part of two proposed class actions filed in August and October 2010. In both claims, the CAE’s from two Maryland call centers allege they were required to complete login and logout procedures off the clock and without compensation. The federal judge assigned to the class actions denied class certification in July, stating that the two lead plaintiffs failed to meet the typicality requirement for certification. Typicality, in this case, means the lead plaintiffs, who dealt with internal call center issues, did not perform the same types of duties as the rest of the members in the proposed class, who dealt with customers.
The Evidence Claim
Whether the plaintiffs met typicality requirements or not, they do not have the evidence to prove they were required to work off the clock because, they allege, Comcast destroyed it. According to the current claim, the plaintiffs’ attorney sent an email in November 2010 notifying Comcast of its duty to preserve evidence, which it had already had to produce in other litigation related to wage and hours cases.
The CAEs claim the company received their notice to retain information regarding employee logins and logouts and related information. The notice is important because the company’s system has an automatic data scrub that clears out data on a rolling basis of 2-4 months. According to their claim, Comcast did not stop the automatic scrubbing until April 2011, seven months after receiving notice. In those seven months, the information that was key to the plaintiffs’ claims was permanently destroyed.
The plaintiffs believe Comcast acted in bad faith and abused the litigation process. Because of this, they claim a default judgment is warranted, since the destruction of the evidence was prejudicial to the claim, meaning it was so negative they could not receive a fair trial. Alternatively, if the court does not enter a default judgment, they want an order for adverse jury instructions, which would basically inform the jury of Comcast’s roll in their lack of proof, or an order requiring Comcast to pay their cost, fees, and fines.
Whether or not an employer chooses to comply with notices and court procedures for wage and overtime claims, an experienced team of overtime pay lawyers can help you through the process and fight for your rights and wages. Contact our team of experienced overtime pay lawyers today at (855) 754-2795 or complete the Free Unpaid Overtime Case Review form and our knowledgeable legal team will evaluate your case. Under our No Fee Promise, if we accept your case, there are no legal fees or costs unless you receive a settlement.