Oracle to Pay $35 Million in Workers Compensation Settlements

San Francisco, CAOracle Corp. has agreed to pay $35 million in workers compensation settlements to more than 1,700 Bay Area employees who alleged that they were wrongfully denied overtime pay, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

According to the newspaper, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Steven Brick gave preliminary approval to a settlement of a lawsuit that was originally filed in 2007 on behalf of employees at Oracle's offices in Redwood City and Pleasanton.

A total of 1,725 employees are eligible to share in the settlement, the plaintiffs' lawyer told the newspaper. The total payments will average slightly more than $13,000 after all of the fees for courts and representation have been taken into account.

The settlement does not include any admission of wrongdoing by Oracle and a spokeswoman for the company said that the firm had no comment as to what had occurred in the trial.

According to the newspaper, Brick has scheduled a hearing for March for final approval after the employees have a chance to voice objections or opt out and pursue individual claims against the company.

The suit involved three groups of employees: quality assurance workers who test the software, technical analysts who provide customer support and project managers who coordinate the tasks for other employees, according to the Chronicle.

The newspaper reported that the nature of the jobs had a significant impact on whether the employees were eligible for overtime pay, and the lawyer for the plaintiffs argued that these individuals should have received time-and-a-half pay for passing more than 40 hours a week.

According to Silicon Valley Mercury News, the settlement includes compensation for the workers and more than $11.5 million for the workers' attorney fees and court costs.

The news source reported that the employees were working for either the Oracle company directly or its PeopleSoft subsidiary between 2003 and 2010.

The Chronicle reported that the company still considers quality assurance employees exempt from overtime and the settlement doesn't require Oracle to change its overtime policy.