The law offices of Shapiro Haber & Urmy have announced that Sony Computer Entertainment America has reached a class action settlement requiring the company to pay $8.5 million to current and former employees for overtime wages.
The suit, Andrew Wilson v. Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc., was first filed in February of 2005 (
pdf).
Under the terms of the settlement, SCEA will make payments to the employees and also "reclassify class members with a job title of Associate Artist and Artist 1 as nonexempt employees under the wage and hour laws of California and the federal Fair Labor Standards Act."
A statement from the law firm notes that the settlement is "contingent upon court approval, and the settlement may be rescinded if a sufficient number of class members opt out of the settlement."
It also says that SCEA denies the allegations in the lawsuit and admits no liability or wrongdoing as a part of the conditional settlement.
The settlement is broadly along similar lines as a
previous Electronic Arts settlement in 2006 based around the 'EA_Spouse' controversy and associated lawsuits. Other firms including Activision have settled similar suits in recent months.
