HP Inc. and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. will together pay $25 million to settle a lawsuit from some 2,000 employees who claimed the company’s faulty sales commission software meant they weren’t getting paid accurately or on time, Business Insider reports.
The lawsuit was initially filed nine years ago, before Palo Alto-based Hewlett-Packard split into HP Inc. and HPE. Salespeople claimed that Hewlett-Packard’s sales commission software, MyComp, would incorrectly calculate their pay, issue smaller-than-expected commissions checks, and in some cases, tell the salespeople they owed the company money for overpayments.
Those problems only got worse following the split in 2015, Business Insider reported at the time. The companies repeatedly apologized to staff and vowed to fix the software.
As more public companies are required to disclose median worker pay, we look at which big Bay Area tech employers pay their workers the most — and least. Here's the ranking, from lowest to highest. CLICK THROUGH THE SLIDESHOW TO SEE MEDIAN PAY AT THE COMPANIES >>>>>>
“As you know, sales compensation has faced some challenges with data that's being recorded in MyComp,” Cheryl Brown, then-COO of HPE’s Americas Enterprise Group said on a group call in April 2017, according to Business Insider. “Upstream data flows slower than expected, and/or links between orders and customer account names were disconnected.”
Later that year, HP and HPE agreed to settle the lawsuit and pay out $25 million in damages. A judge approved that settlement agreement this week.
Lawyers for the salespeople said most of their clients would get several thousand dollars, while others will get far more. Both companies have also agreed to pay nearly $1.2 million to California’s Labor & Workforce Development Agency.
“HPE is pleased that the mediated resolution in this dispute that was reached by the parties in 2017 has been approved by the Court,” HPE told reporters in a statement.
Local employee headcount
| Rank | Prior Rank | Business name |
|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Apple Inc. |
2 | 2 | Alphabet/Google Inc. |
3 | 3 | Cisco Systems Inc. |