Red Herring, "Worker Overtime Suit Hits IBM"

          Technology workers for IBM sued the giant computer company on Tuesday in federal court for allegedly failing to pay overtime wages to tens of thousands of employees in a move that could have far-reaching implications for the tech industry’s workforce.
          The lawsuit, filed as a class-action in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, alleges that Big Blue improperly categorizes workers who install, maintain, and support computer software and hardware as “exempt” from overtime provisions under federal and state laws.
          The lawsuit asks the court to order IBM to pay overtime denied in the past and to start paying overtime to current workers. The ranks would include system administrators, network technicians, and other technical support workers. The IBM suit is not the first of its kind.
         Attorneys at Lieff Cabraser, which sued Wal-Mart for not properly compensating workers for meal breaks, said the IBM and CSC lawsuits could affect the rest of the tech industry. In Silicon Valley, long hours are often cited as an integral reason for the success of both small startups and larger, more established companies.