In the case of Case No. PC 20080164 in El Dorado Superior Court, the Plaintiff alleges that DST OUTPUT failed to properly pay its computer programmers overtime and alleges various other labor code violations. A copy of the complaint can be found here.

Essentially, the Plaintiff is alleging that computer programmers at DST should have been classified as salary/non-exempt rather than salary/exempt. The complaint never alleges that computer programmers need to be paid by the hour and Plaintiff could not require that DST pay its computer programmers on an hourly basis even if he won on every single issue in the complaint. Despite what DST says about the lawsuit, no one has ever said that DST needs to pay its computer programmers hourly. In fact, a brief review of the Computer Professional Exemption shows that computer programmers can be paid on a salary provided they are paid at least the minimum salary required by Cal. Labor Code § 515.5.

There is no dispute that employees who perform the highly skilled computer programmer duties described in § 515.5 and who make at least the minimum salary level required by the State of California to be exempt under the Computer Professional Exemption will be exempt from overtime. The issue is that when an employer refuses to pay their employees salaries that meet these minimum requirements, their computer programmers can not be exempt as Computer Professionals.

DST Output filed the following Answer to the complaint. DST asserts a number of defenses, including that the "if any loss, injury, damage, or detriment occurred as alleged in the Complaint, the loss, injury, damage or detriment was caused and contributed to by he actions of Plaintiff, or by some other party..." Essentially, DST is saying that "if" Plaintiff is entitled to any overtime, that it is someone else's fault. DST also alleges that any claim for unfair competition that would require DST Output to pay overtime the same as every other employer in California "would violate Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the United States and California Constitutions..."

DST has identified the following individuals as witnesses in the matter: Evelyn Peck, Sheila Eaton, Jennifer Lutje, and Douglas Drakeley. If you have any information about these individuals, please contact me.

DST is being represented by Brian Finucance and Jennifer Achtert of Fisher & Phillips.

DST Output has sent out a communication to putative class members in the action that relates to DST's new arbitration program. If you have any information regarding whether DST Output is coercing the employees to agree to arbitration or is threatening any of the employees who wish to exercise their rights to have a court hear their claims, please contact me. DST Output has claimed that all employees are free to opt-out and are encouraged to contact an attorney of their choice. If you have any information that DST Output is publicly saying one thing but may have a different private agenda, please contact me. If you have information but do not wish to disclose your identity, please send me an anonymous email.