EA pays off overtime

Written by Matti Robinson @ 27 Apr 2006 12:47 User comments (12)

The software engineers at Electronic Arts have won $14.9 million in a settlement for unpaid overtime work. The world's largest video game publisher denied overtime pay from newly joined employees, which was settled in California class-action lawsuit in favor of the employees. The settlement covers work during a five year period between Feb. 14, 2001 and Feb. 14, 2006.

EA assures that it is changing practices and almost 200 employees that were denied the overtime pay, will be reclassified as hour workers which makes them eligible for the benefit. "We took progressive steps to address those issues. Our priority is to fairly compensate people for their work. We're going to continue to do things to make people successful and be an attractive employer and a strong competitor," EA spokeswoman Trudy Muller addressed past years' work management.

Having a reputation of overworking employees, this isn't the first time to see lawsuits of this kind. Since the summer of 2004 there have been at least six lawsuits concerning the unpaid overtime including EA, Sony Computer Entertainment America and Vivendi Universal Games, nowadays Vivendi Games.

Source:
SiliconValley.com

For more gaming news please visit Blasteroids.com.

<Warner brings first hybrid DVD / HD DVD titles >Revolution is now known as Wii

12 user comments

127.4.2006 04:59

akkuma

Send private message to this user

Junior Member

wow, what jerks at EA.

227.4.2006 09:02

dabig25

Send private message to this user

Senior Member

Wow......thats FREAKIN SAD. Happy the employees won.

327.4.2006 09:42

neo1000

Send private message to this user

Member

I wish the same could apply here in mexico where a worker has a 10 hour labor day and recieves about US$1 (per hour).

427.4.2006 10:03

kaosX

Send private message to this user

Senior Member

greaaaat... that mean EA games will be more rushed and even worse?

527.4.2006 15:33

hot_ice

Send private message to this user

Senior Member

With all the profit Electronic Arts is making, it can't even manage to pay its workers overtime? Cheap swindlers. If you make x amount of millions in profits yearly, and can't manage to pay your workers, what does that say about your company? If I was one of their employees, I would change company, problem solved.

627.4.2006 19:58

sisph

Send private message to this user

Junior Member

Changing companies woudln't help. This kind of thing is rampant whenever it has to deal with relasing software or engineering software. I think this is just the only case where they won their case. I bet this kind of thing happens all the time.

727.4.2006 20:11

ZippyDSM

Send private message to this user

AfterDawn Addict

THis is why 5 large coprate publishers are bad its better to have 20 of anything than only tohave a hand full of the "best" ..unfornately the only thing large coperations do is look out for upper managment >>

828.4.2006 14:43

Chanta

Send private message to this user

Newbie

Yeah and you know what? If it gets to tough for EA monetarily/legally):p They will probably pull out of US, (most of the work anyway) and do what any cheap ass company does to save big bucks and have a software development team somewhere in Dubai or Costa Rica or Korea (asuming that's not the case already), and screw poor under payed and overworked employees even more. I bet they wouldn't be winning any lawsuits any time soon!

928.4.2006 15:11

ZippyDSM

Send private message to this user

AfterDawn Addict

Chanta ggaaaa and I thought games couldnt get worse ><

1028.4.2006 20:40

xskorpion

Send private message to this user

Newbie

quote: 10 hour labor day and recieves about US$1 (per hour). ------------------------------------------------------- BS I live here in Mexico the longest the goverment allows companies to keep employees working is 8 HOURS not 10 and 15USD a day is good enough here. I mean it. The minimum pay is 10$ USD per day

114.5.2006 15:20

wetsparks

Send private message to this user

Member

I just skimed through this but I noticed that hot ice said that EA makes "x millions" every year and they should pay their employers overtime. Just so you know, I saw this show on G4 the other day on EA and it said that EA makes 3 BILLION per year so the 14 million they have to pay out is nothing and yes they are cheap basterds for it.

124.5.2006 15:52

ZippyDSM

Send private message to this user

AfterDawn Addict

wetsparks its liek the oil companys not want to reduce the price of gas 1-2$ they would rather piss everyone off...well they know the goverment aint going to anything...the 100 rebate POS is like WTF is that monthly 100 rebate? thats about the only way its help...morons...driling in alaska aint going to help it has to be doubley refined since its not the right kind of oil,we'd be better off building acouple refineries ...*sigh*

Comments have been disabled for this article.

	Massive Android 0-day vulnerability found - here's what you should do immediately (08 Nov 2025 5:35) A very serious security flaw has been found in the Android operating system, allowing malicious code to be executed on a phone or tablet.
	Review: Roborock Saros Z70 - robot vacuum with an arm (20 Oct 2025 6:13) In out in-depth review of Roborock Saros Z70 we put the robot vacuum through a 3 month test period, where we observed its work in normal home. The sci-fi -like arm of Z70 was a little bit disappointing, due its limited functionality.
	End of an era: TiVo stops making DVRs (14 Oct 2025 4:12) TiVo, once synonumous with digital TV recording in the United States and in select other countries, has stopped making DVR devices as of October, 2025.
	Strava takes Garmin to court (02 Oct 2025 2:30) The world's perhaps best-known sports app developer Strava has filed a lawsuit against American sports watch manufacturer Garmin, accusing the company of patent infringement. 1 user comment
	Ruuvi Air sensor keeps track of indoor air quality with ease (25 Sep 2025 1:56) The latest product from Finland's Ruuvi Innovations is the Ruuvi Air, a device that brings clear and simple indoor air quality monitoring to homes - with no monthly fees.

	What IP rating for dust and water resistance means An IP classification (such as IP68) is given to mobile phones, Bluetooth speakers, and other devices, but what do these classifications mean? 1 user comment
	Guide: Phone battery drains quickly - how to fix (iPhone / Android) In this guide, we go through the most typical reasons for rapid battery drain with phones, and look at potential reasons or solutions.
	Guide: Is Your Wi-Fi Sluggish or Slow? Here's How to Fix Do you have problems with you Wi-Fi? Slow connection or is it cutting off constantly? This guide aims to remedy these problems. 1 user comment
	Does your phone rattle? Here's why it happens When you shake your phone and hear a light rattle, clatter, or jingle, it's likely not broken. The culprit is probably the optical image stabilization (OIS) system in your phone's camera, meaning everything is functioning as it should. 2 user comments
	What happens if you don't update Android? Sometimes it can be tempting to avoid updating to a new Android version. What happens if you decide to delay major updates to the OS?

EA pays off overtime

12 user comments

Latest news

Reviews

Guides

News archive

Subscribe

Sections:

Follow us:

	Review: Roborock Saros Z70 - robot vacuum with an arm In out in-depth review of Roborock Saros Z70 we put the robot vacuum through a 3 month test period, where we observed its work in normal home. The sci-fi -like arm of Z70 was a little bit disappointing, due its limited functionality.
	Roborock Saros 10 review - Great, but not perfect We tested Roborock Saros 10 robot vacuum for more than two months in order to see whether it is really worth its hefty price tag. The mopping, self-emptying Saros 10 was mostly great, even perfect. But its object avoidance was bit disappointing. 1 user comment
	Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra review - obstacle avoidance doesn't work as it should, otherwise almost perfect robot vacuum We put the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra through a very, very long review process. The $1800 mopping robot vacuum is almost perfect, but its obstacle avoidance was surprisingly bad, considering the price - and compared to its competitors.