Electronic Arts faces overtime lawsuit
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Game giant sued for failing to pay overtime. Meanwhile, blog sparks flurry of complaints about work conditions in game industry.
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If the video game industry is beginning to rake in revenue that rivals the movie industry, it's also beginning to accumulate Hollywood-like headaches.-The Washington Post
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Lawsuit lists complaints -- breach of contract, breach of warranty and negligent misrepresentation -- stemming from glitches in the online gaming service.
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Arbitration policies can't stop litigation The California Supreme Court ruled this week that employees who claim they've been cheated out of overtime can sue their employer, whether or not the company's arbitration policy forbids class actions.â¦
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File will cause portable gaming device to malfunction, company says.
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Computer games giant Electronic Arts signs exclusive agreements with the US National Football League.
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The world&#39;s largest computer software manufacturer filed suit Tuesday in US District Court against a local software retailer it claims is selling and distributing counterfeit software labels.
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LA electronics company sues Nintendo, claiming that it holds patent to remote-control tech used in Wii controller.
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Lawyers have filed a suit that aims to be a class action, representing all those who have had problems connecting to Xbox Live in recent weeks.
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EA&#39;s latest RTS features combat on two levels; gamers can battle with elves, trolls, and beasts for $39.99. Electronic Arts today shipped its latest real-time strategy game, Armies of Exigo, to retail stores.
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A class-action lawsuit filed yesterday in Middlesex Superior Court alleges that one of the largest roofing companies in Massachusetts withheld an estimated $1 million in overtime pay and regular wages from Brazilian workers over the last several months while paying the Americans who worked beside them higher wages and time-and-a-half when they logged more than 40 hours per week.
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Shares of Electronic Arts Inc., the country's largest video-game publisher, climbed Tuesday on news that it has gained exclusive rights to use NFL teams and players in its video games.
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John Riccitiello, CEO of Electronic Arts, admits he's blown it with his handling of talented developers in the past. But he's learned from his mistakes and that EA is a better company for it.
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Labor protests in the high-tech industry are rare, but IBM is in midst of one -- and it&#39;s unfolding entirely online. Instead of waving protest signs outside the company gates, affected workers are airing, in comments accompanying an online petition, disappointment, anger, and bitterness with the company over a salary cut&#160; IBM&#39;s U.S. workforce.Since its announcement last month, more than 1,200 people have signed a petition sponsored by the Alliance@IBM, protesting pay cuts to 7,600 technical support employees.. Whether all these signatures are from affected employees is not certain, but many of the comments seem authentic, and often heartfelt.Comments such as &quot;11 years on call ... Now less money than when in started in 97,&quot; &quot;Previous loyal employee ... No more,&quot; and &quot;This is not fair. I did not deserve this after all my hard work,&quot; are typical.This change in how technical support workers are paid stems from a federal class action lawsuit filed by some employees in early 2006. In it, the workers complained they were not getting paid overtime after a 40-hour work week and they sought back pay. IBM settled the case that same year for $65 million.Last month, IBM told workers that it was reclassifying technical services and IT specialist jobs to nonexempt positions, making them eligible for overtime. But the company said it was also making a 15% base salary adjustment -- down.Overtime pay, as a well as a transition payment to help where overtime doesn&#39;t meet the base pay adjustment, will offset this pay cut according to the company. The company characterized the change as a &quot;pay remix&quot; in a series of slides to managers that was subsequently leaked. But not all the employees will be able to offset the pay cut with overtime, according to information sent to managers; about one third of the affected employees are working on average less than 45 hours a week, the apparent salary parity threshold.IBM spokesman Fred McNeese said that were IBM to pay overtime on top of salaries that were already competitive with the industry, the company would be uncompetitive. McNeese&#39;s point is listed as a key one in the slides sent to managers. &quot;Adding overtime compensation to already competitive pay would quickly produce costs that exceed competitive levels -- an undesirable result for employees and our clients.&quot;McNeese believes that overall compensation for employees after the change &quot;should be the same.&quot;Two affected employees, who spoke on the condition that their names not be used, disagreed that their pay would be similar. They argued that overtime was far from certain, required managerial approval, and opportunities for it could vary depending on business. Moreover, the cut in base pay affected those aspects of compensation calculated on base salary alone, such as insurance and disability. They also argued that it could affect personal areas, such as ability to qualify at a certain mortgage amount. One employee said that it rolls back his salary to what he earned in 2001.The employees were also skeptical of the company&#39;s assertion that this change wasn&#39;t put in place to cut overall costs, and there are suspicions that wage pressure from offshore centers may be at work -- something IBM denies. &quot;As far as I am concerned, they are going to save money,&quot; said one employee.Lee Conrad, a former IBM employee who is now national coordinator of the Alliance@IBM in Endicott, NY, said he believes globalization may be a factor in the pay cut decision and suspects other companies will be looking at how IBM manages the pay cut. &quot;If IBM is an indication of what&#39;s ahead, it&#39;s going to be a rough ride for American workers,&quot; he said.The union, which is part of the Communications Workers of America, represents about 6,000 of IBM&#39;s total U.S. workforce of 125,000. It would need at least 60 percent membership to have bargaining power with the company, said Conrad.Conrad said he been impressed by the outspoken reaction of IBM employees. &quot;For IBMers to sign their name publicly to a petition -- that says a lot,&quot; he said.Computerworld is an InfoWorld affiliate.&#160;
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No. 1 video game maker Electronic Arts Inc on Tuesday reported higher quarterly profits on strong demand for titles like Madden NFL 2005, but its stock price fell after a holiday forecast fell short of Wall Street expectations.
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Payout settles class-action lawsuit alleging company unlawfully withheld overtime pay from some employees.
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An anonymous essay criticizing video game publisher Electronic Arts is unleashing a torrent of complaints about work practices in the game world. [Missing Links]