An Indian tech worker, Suri Payala, has filed a class-action suit with the Superior Court of California, claiming that Wipro failed to compensate him and other employees for overtime hours while working with the company in the US.

A class action lawsuit is one in which a group of people band together and take on a company over a common cause.

According to the website Americanbazaaronline.com, the lawsuit alleges Wipro’s business model is extremely profitable because it does not pay employees for work in excess of 40 hours per week as required in California.

Wipro, in a statement, said: “Wipro abides by the laws of every jurisdiction… While we do not comment on pending litigation … Wipro will vigorously defend (itself against) these allegations.”

Payala was employed by Wipro as a computer technician during the first half of 2014 with the title Architect, and was outsourced to DirecTV in California. The lawsuit states that he was not paid overtime and for his travel time to the job site, despite earning less than $7,000 per month, allegedly in violation of state wage and hour laws.

Payala also states that Wipro intentionally misclassified employees who provide computer support, troubleshooting, testing related to repairs and technical services as exempt from overtime pay. According to California law, such employees are not exempt if they earn less than $84,130 annually, as of January 2014.

The lawsuit seeks to represent all employees alleged to have been intentionally misclassified by Wipro, who received compensation of less than $7,000 per month, and were categorised as exempt employees over the past four years.

Meanwhile, the BSE has sought a clarification on the issue from the company.

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