Sprint employees complain again about being overworked and underpaid

Sprint employees, for the second time this year, are complaining about being overworked and underpaid. During the summer, 153 people who toiled for the nation's fourth largest carrier, complained that they were required to under report the number of hours that they worked, and had to work during time periods that were not part of their normal working schedule. A settlement in the amount of $365,000 was eventually agreed to.

On Tuesday, former Sprint employee Tijuana Mingo filed a new lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kansas. Mingo last worked for Sprint in February 2015, but missed out on getting involved in the first lawsuit. After hearing about the successful suit from a former co-worker, she contacted the attorney who handled the first case and he filed a second suit. Mingo, who sold products and plans to Sprint business customers, says that she worked 45 to 50 hours weekly, but was paid only for 40 hours.

In both the new and old filings, employees claimed that Sprint had each of them report that they worked 40 hours a week even though most of them were working as much as 50% more. Michael McGlon, the Sprint employee who filed the original lawsuit last February, said that even though the carrier had him clock in for a 40 hour work week, he was really putting in 60 hour weeks. Despite working all that overtime, McGlon alleged that Sprint paid him only for his scheduled 40 hour week and didn't compensate him for the extra hours that he worked. The 153 employees who were part of the original suit shared in $229,096 or $1,497 each. Attorney fees made up a third of the award, and Sprint paid for an administrator and other costs.


Sprint did not admit to any culpability in the first case, and stated that it settled "solely for the purpose of avoiding the cost and disruption of ongoing litigation." The first case became a class action suit and Mingo is seeking the same for the new court case, looking to represent Sprint workers in Overland Park, Georgia, Florida and Kentucky.

source: KansasCityStar