Expedia, Egencia Face Travel Consultant’s Worker Misclassification Lawsuit

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Expedia Group, Inc. and Egencia, LLC have been named as defendants in a lawsuit that alleges the online travel management companies misclassified employees as independent contractors and deprived them of proper wages.

Behind the proposed collective action is a travel consultant who claims she and similarly situated workers clock over 40 hours each week without overtime pay. According to the complaint, travel consultants work from home where they communicate with customers online and over the phone for a fixed per-minute pay rate. The case argues that travel consultants should be classified as employees and paid overtime wages, in part because their work activities are “supervised and controlled.” For example, the complaint says the workers are required to handle at least four customer calls per hour and must work a minimum number of hours each week., and exercise little control over work procedures, schedules, and time off.

“Defendants’ misclassification was not by accident, but a well thought out scheme to reduce their labor costs,” the suit asserts.