California litigant Payala quits Wipro

Seven months after he filed a class action lawsuit against Wipro, Suri Payala, a software engineer, has quit the company.

Confirming the development, Richard Kellner, the attorney representing Payala, told BusinessLine : “Suri resigned from his position, and is fully involved as the class representative in the pending class action (lawsuit) in the United States.” When contacted on his resignation, a Wipro spokesperson declined to comment.

The issue on hand is with regard to Wipro failing to compensate Payala and others who worked in the California office, for numerous overtime hours. He had filed this lawsuit in March this year and according to the documents filed with the Court, there are 2,000 such employees working in California.

Overtime compensation In the class-action lawsuit, filed before the Superior Court of California, Payala had accused Wipro of failing to compensate him and others for numerous overtime hours.

Payala was employed by Wipro as a computer technician during the first half of 2014 as an ‘architect’ and was outsourced to DirecTV in California.

The lawsuit states that he was not paid for working overtime and also 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.

The suit alleged that Wipro’s business model is “extremely profitable” as it does not pay its employees overtime for work in excess of 40 hours per week, as per California law requirement.

Wipro, in a response to the court, said that in 2014, the lowest hourly rate that Payala earned in California was $34.28 per hour. This is less than the $40 per hour mandated by California law.

Rising support In June, Kellner had told BusinessLine that they continue to receive calls from present and former Wipro employees who have confirmed this practice (not being paid compensation for overtime work), and continue to be interested in hearing from others who have been underpaid by Wipro, in violation of the California law.

When asked how many such employees have come forward in support, Kellner said: “We estimate that the class will be comprised of approximately 800-1,000 present and former Wipro employees.”

Some industry watchers, however, believe that Payala’s case is not strong. According to Rajkamal Rao, an immigration expert, the suit may be dismissed for having no legal basis.

“Overtime rules in California and across the US are explicit that as a software engineer, Payala is considered a professional and deemed exempt from both State and federal overtime laws.”