Job search advertising company Careerbuilder will pay about $3.8 million to settle a class action lawsuit accusing it of shorting pay to its sales representatives, by allegedly stripping those workers of commissions they had earned.
Under the terms of the settlement presented in Cook County Circuit Court, sales representatives who worked for Careerbuilder in 2018-2019 could receive payments ranging from a minimum of $625 to “the thousands of dollars.” The amount they receive will depend on their individual claims and how many other Careerbuilder sales reps submit eligible claims, according to court documents.
Attorneys from the firm of McGuire Law P.C., of Chicago, which represented the plaintiffs, could receive up to one-third of the total settlement fund, or about $1.25 million, according to settlement documents filed in the court in June.
Myles McGuire
| mcgpc.com
Cook County Circuit Judge Thaddeus Wilson granted preliminary approval to the settlement on June 7.
According to his order, eligible Careerbuilder sales reps have until Oct. 5 to submit claims for a share of the settlement funds.
A hearing to consider granting final approval to the settlement is scheduled for Nov. 14.
The settlement would end a class action lawsuit that dates back to November 2019. At that time, the McGuire attorneys filed suit in Cook County court against Careerbuilder, on behalf of named plaintiff Benjamin Fongers.
They sought to expand the lawsuit to potentially include “hundreds, if not thousands” of additional plaintiffs who worked at Careerbuilder.
The lawsuit accused Careerbuilder of refusing to pay sales reps the commissions they believed they deserved under a compensation plan instituted by Careerbuilder in the spring of 2019.
Under the previous compensation plan, sales representatives allegedly were paid monthly commissions of 4% of monthly net revenue from the sale of “most Careerbuilder products and services.”
Under the 2019 plan, however, Careerbuilder adjusted the commissions down to 0.25% of net revenue, and then removed commissions entirely.
However, Careerbuilder also allegedly sought to apply those changes retroactively, allegedly stripping commissions previously earned by sales representatives under the prior compensation plan.
“… In other words, these employees would be completely unable to recover past commissions that they were still owed,” the plaintiffs wrote in their complaint.
The lawsuit asserted Careerbuilder’s alleged actions violated the Illinois Sales Representative Act and the Illinois Wage and Payment Collection Act.
The plaintiffs brought the lawsuit on behalf of all current and former Careerbuilder sales representatives who allegedly were denied commissions under Careerbuilder’s revamped compensation plan.
The plaintiffs have been represented by attorneys Myles McGuire, Paul T. Geske and Brendan Duffner, of the McGuire firm.
In court, proceedings between the two sides was described as “contentious.”
Careerbuilder sought to remove the case to federal court, which is generally considered a less hostile environment for corporate defendants than Cook County’s court system.
However, in October 2020, U.S. District Judge Norgle granted the plaintiffs’ request to send the case back to Cook County court. Norgle later ordered Careerbuilder to pay the attorney fees sought by the McGuire lawyers to compensate them for their work in getting the case back to Cook County court.
Throughout 2021, the parties argued in court over Careerbuilder’s attempts to dismiss the case.
Cook County Judge Mullen ultimately never ruled on those motions. The two sides then engaged in settlement talks, and reached an agreement on Feb. 7, according to the memorandum filed in court explaining the settlement.
According to that document, the settlement class would include anyone employed by Careerbuilder as an “account executive,” or closed a sale under the previous compensation plan from January 2018 to March 2019.
The settlement documents estimate the class will include approximately 342 people, who would be eligible to receive a minimum of $625 each.
Careerbuilder was represented by attorneys Noah Finkel and Andrew Scroggins, of the firm of Seyfarth Shaw, of Chicago.