Arise Virtual Solutions Inc., a gig economy customer service company, has agreed to pay $3 million to D.C. workers to settle a lawsuit the Office of the Attorney General filed alleging employee misclassification.
D.C. Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb filed the lawsuit, alleging that Arise improperly misclassified its at-home customer service call workers as independent contractors, depriving them of minimum wage, overtime and paid sick leave.
The settlement requires Arise to pay over $2 million to more than 250 workers affected by the misclassification. Additionally, the company will pay nearly $940,000 to the District of Columbia and cease its operations in the District as part of the agreement.
“This settlement puts more than $2 million into the pockets of workers Arise took advantage of in a misclassification scheme – an illegal practice that is, unfortunately, all too common in the District,” Schwalb said. “The Office of the Attorney General will continue to fight to ensure that workers receive the wages and benefits they deserve and that District businesses compete on a level playing field.”
Arise recruits remote customer support workers known as “agents” and contracts with companies seeking to outsource call center services. Schwalb insisted that, despite being classified as independent contractors, the agents who worked for Arise functioned as employees in practice.
He said the “agents” had to undergo unpaid client-specific certification courses, often for weeks, before answering customer support calls through Arise’s online platform. The company also closely monitored agents’ performance, recording metrics such as call duration and hold time, and could discipline agents for unsatisfactory performance.
The lawsuit alleged that Arise systematically misclassified agents as independent contractors, depriving them of minimum wage, overtime pay, and sick leave entitlements under D.C. law.
Moreover, the attorney general said Arise failed to compensate agents for mandatory training and meetings, made illegal deductions from their pay, and shifted business expenses onto its agents, including equipment and internet connection costs.
A March 2024 demographic revealed that Arise employed approximately 256 individuals, including 106 who identified as Black or African American, 96 white, 27 Hispanic or Latinx, 18 Asian, and nine Native Americans. Further, nearly 74% of Arise employees were women, and the average worker earned just under $30,000 annually.
The attorneys general office said a case claims administrator would contact eligible individuals in the coming weeks.
I am also a part of this settlement and would like to know how I may be added to this calim. My company hadmany agents working for Arise taking calls and going through everything stated above. It would be great if someone could lead me in the right direction. I have a list of agents I employed for Arise.
I am so interested in obtaining information about this. I completed training without pay and considered an independent agent. I was relieved without warning or anything as far as write ups. I logged in to service and got back on for calls and was completely logged from the system. No contact information or reasons.. Also, was promised pay for certification and is yet to receive it after completing. Please send additional info about joining this…
I am also trying to join the class action lawsuit. Any direction would be helpful.
You can’t just join like some others. They have already identified who is eligible. If you are a part of this lawsuit, they should have already reached out to you via email, text, and postal mail. I received email and text notification on May 30th. The postal notification came shortly after.
Hi, I received an email about the Arise lawsuit at 9:30 am this morning. I want to participate in the lawsuit. I worked for Arise in 2022 and 2023—and completed training for both positions.