Oracle Commissions Wage and Hour Lawsuits
Case name: Maryam Abrishamcar and Kavi Kapur v. Oracle America, Inc.
Case type: Wage and Hour
Filed in: Superior Court, County of San Mateo
Case No.: 535490 (Cal. Super.)
Case name: Marcella Johnson v. Oracle America, Inc.
Case type: Wage and Hour
Filed in: JAMS—San Francisco
Case No.: 1100087724
Case Summaries
- Abrishamcar v. Oracle
Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, Goldstein Borgen Dardarian and Ho, and Valerian Law represent Oracle sales representatives in a commission wages lawsuit in the Superior Court of California, County of San Mateo.
The lawsuit was filed on September 18, 2015 under California’s Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), wherein “aggrieved employees” may file a lawsuit on behalf of themselves and other employees for employer violations of the California Labor Code. Under PAGA, the named Plaintiffs seek to recover civil penalties for Labor Code violations on behalf of sales representatives in California.
The named Plaintiffs are former sales representatives at Oracle America, Inc. (“Oracle”) who assert that Oracle has engaged in unlawful practices against sales representatives by failing to comply with laws governing commission agreements and failing to pay sales representatives all earned commissions on a timely basis. Plaintiff believes that Oracle has failed to provide commissioned sales representatives signed compensation plans that set forth the method by which their commissions are actually calculated and paid. In addition, through the use of a long and confusing set of Terms and Conditions issued to each sales representative with his or her compensation plan, the Complaint alleges that Oracle unlawfully and retroactively reduced the commissions of sales representatives based on grounds, criteria, and methods not defined in a signed commission contract. Oracle also imposed an illegal confidentiality agreement on its sales representatives as a condition of employment, according to the Complaint.
On April 4, 2018, the Court granted plaintiffs’ motion for summary adjudication of issues, finding that this lawsuit included an “aggrieved employee as to whom Defendant Oracle violated California Labor Code Section 2751 by failing to provide Plaintiff with a signed commission agreement.”
In January 2019, the first of three phases of the trial began. During the first and second phase of trial, the Court found Oracle liable for violating the California Labor Code.
On December 19, 2022, before the start of the third phase of trial to decide penalties, the Court denied both defendant’s motion to compel arbitration of the “individual” PAGA claims and defendant’s motion to dismiss all representative PAGA claims.
The parties are currently engaged in discovery regarding the extent of PAGA penalties. The final phase of trial is expected to occur in 2025.
- Marcella Johnson v. Oracle America, Inc.
In pleadings filed in the case Marcella Johnson v. Oracle, Plaintiff-Claimant Johnson alleged that Oracle America, Inc. shortchanged sales employees millions in earned commission wages by retroactively changing commission contracts.
Plaintiff-Claimant specifically asserted: Oracle retroactively increased quotas or decreased commission rates on past sales so that it paid sales employees less than what the existing compensation plans require. Oracle “re-planned” employees to reduce commissions earned on completed sales going back to any time of Oracle’s choosing, sometimes to the beginning of the same fiscal year and even earlier. When it “re-planned” employees after commission wages had already been paid, Oracle clawed back prior payments by withholding newly earned commissions until the employees had paid the company back or else threatened a collection. By reducing and withholding commissions in this fashion, Oracle’s commission policies and practices violated numerous California Labor Code requirements, and Oracle engaged in unfair business practices.
In March 2019, a Ninth Circuit panel upheld plaintiff’s motion to compel Oracle to engage in arbitration. The decision stemmed from a petition to compel arbitration that Johnson filed after Oracle refused to participate.
We are currently seeking more information from current and former Oracle sales representatives on the procedure and terms of their commission pay.
If you are a current or former Oracle sales representative and are interested in learning more about claims you may have against the company for unpaid commissions, please contact Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight at [email protected] or (646) 681-7373. Alternatively, you can use the link below to submit a contract request.
Procedural History
- Click here to read the Private Attorney Complaint
- Click here to read the First Amended Demand for Class Arbitration
- Click here to read the Class Action Complaint
- Click here to read the summary adjudication against Oracle
- Click here to read tentative decision from phase 1 of trial
- Click here to read tentative decision from phase 2 of trial
- Click here to read Order Denying Motion To Compel Arbitration and Motion to Dismiss
- Click here to read Order Denying Motion to Compel Arbitration and Motion to Dismiss Case
News Coverage
- Rising Star: Sanford Heisler’s Danielle Fuschetti
- IT sales star wins $660k lawsuit against Oracle in Qatar – but can’t collect, because the Oracle he sued suddenly vanished
- Ex-Oracle Worker Can Arbitrate Pay Dispute, 9th Circ. Says
- Oracle Loses Bid to Overturn Former Employee’s Motion to Compel Arbitration
- Oracle’s Anti-Arbitration Line Is ‘Man Bites Dog,’ Judge Says
- Former sales rep for software maker claims company ‘stonewalling’ case over commission practices
- Oracle Refuses To Arbitrate Wage Fight, Ex-Worker Says
- Oracle ‘systematically denies’ its sales reps their commissions, forces them to work to pay off ‘debts’, court told
- Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight Asks Federal Court To Compel Oracle To Arbitrate Wage Claims
- Former sales representative alleges Oracle America refused to pay full, complete amount of commissions earned
- Oracle Faces $150,000,000 Lawsuit By Former Worker
- Oracle faces $150m lawsuit over ‘clawed back’ sales commissions
- Oracle Hit With $150M Class Action by Sales Staff
- Oracle ‘stiffed’ sales staff by clawing back pay, $150 million lawsuit claims
Attorneys Involved in the Case
Michael Palmer
Co-Managing Partner of the New York Office