June 1, 2005

Two former employees of ClientLogic Operating Corp. have filed suit in federal court charging the outsourcing company of breaking labor laws.

The workers, identified as Martin Hens and Paul Van Voorhees, are being represented by the firm Outten & Golden LLP of New York City and Stueve Siegel Hanson Woody LLP of Kansas City.

The former employees claim they were required to start work early and finish late, but the company only paid them for their scheduled shift.

"Nobody chooses the call center jobs as their first job. They're doing these jobs to support their families and they're not being paid very much for them. The least they should be able to ask is to be paid for the time they work," said Justin Swartz, lead attorney from Outten & Golden.

The company has not yet been contacted by either of the law firms and was only aware of the report through the media, according to senior VP marketing Amit Shankardass, based at the company's Nashville, Tenn., headquarters.

"ClientLogic has a heritage of being a fair employer in all the markets we serve," he said.

ClientLogic, founded in Buffalo 15 years ago, operates call centers in Buffalo and Tonawanda and two dozen others in 16 states. ClientLogic's Buffalo operation has been reduced in the past year with the closing of a Hertel Avenue site that furloughed approximately 200 workers. The company has 110 employees working at its data center on Ellicott Street.

©2005 American City Business Journals Inc.

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