Sales Associates File Class Action Against AutoNation Alleging Unpaid Sales Commissions

San Jose, CA (PRWEB) July 20, 2011

On June 21, 2011, the California class action attorneys at Blumenthal, Nordrehaug & Bhowmik filed a class action lawsuit against AutoNation in San Jose, California alleging that the new and used auto dealer has violated the rights of on-site Sales Associates under the California Labor Code. The class action lawsuit against AutoNation for Labor Code violations was filed in Santa Clara Superior Court, entitled Lilly v. AutoNation, Case No. 1-11-CV-203569.

The class action complaint filed against AutoNation by the attorneys at Blumenthal, Nordrehaug & Bhowmik alleges that the new and used car dealer unlawfully deducts commissions from the Sales Associates’ wages in violation of the wage and hour laws. The complaint asserts that AutoNation would service or repair previously purchased cars for free, yet proceed to deduct these costs from the Sales Associates who originally sold said cars. Such acts would qualify as unlawful deductions of earned sales commissions and wages in violation of the California Labor Code.

The AutoNation Sales Associate class action lawsuit further alleges that the auto dealer intentionally misclassified the on-site new and used car Sales Associates as exempt from overtime in order to avoid wage & hour requirements in violation of California employment laws. Specifically, the complaint states, “more than half the Plaintiff’s and the other Sales Representatives’ compensation does not represent commissions on a workweek by workweek basis as required by the California "inside salesperson" or "commissioned salesperson" exemption, and they are therefore not exempt from the requirement that they be paid overtime.”

Under California overtime laws, employers are required to pay employees overtime compensation for all hours worked in excess of eight hours in a single workday or forty hours in a workweek. In addition, it is unlawful for an employer to take back any portion of an employee’s wages previously paid to said employee according to the California Labor Code, including sales commissions so long as the commissions have been earned by the employees under the operate agreement.

For more information, visit the AutoNation Sales Associate class action website or call (866) 771-7099.

With its main employment law office located in San Diego County, the California employment law attorneys at Blumenthal, Nordrehaug & Bhowmik have a statewide practice of representing employees on a contingency basis for violations involving wages and hours, overtime pay, discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination and other types of illegal workplace conduct.