Expedia, subsidiary Egencia sued in overtime case

SEATTLE -- The online travel company Expedia and one of its subsidiaries are being sued over an alleged failure to pay overtime to hundreds of customer service representatives across the country.

The complaint was filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle on Monday by Laurie Krause of Melbourne, Florida, who has worked for the subsidiary, Egencia LLC, since 2014.

Her complaint states she and other customer service representatives have been misclassified as independent contractors rather than employees, and the company has failed to pay overtime even though they routinely work more than 40 hours a week.

One of her attorneys, Dan Foty of Houston, said the procedure violates federal labor law.

Expedia and Egencia officials said they do not comment on pending litigation.

The representatives in question work from home and handle phone calls from business clients looking to book travel or hotel rooms.