275 Salesmen Sue Timeshare Companies

Pennsylvania – 275 timeshare salesmen got together to sue timeshare developers they were working for before. According to them, the timeshare developers classified them as independent dealers instead of identifying them as employers to the companies. Their lawsuit was granted by a judge of Philadelphia County last week.

The salespeople want to be properly-compensated. They have sacrificed and gave all their time and effort to be able to sell timeshare properties but the timeshare developers and companies did not give them the benefits they deserved for more than 3 years of their service (June 2005 to December 2008). It is said that the timeshare companies ceased to give them benefits that are estimated to cost up to $2.1 million. The salespeople also have to be paid in compensation for being misclassified.

Among the timeshare developers that were sued are Vacation Charters Ltd. And Split Rock Resort. The two salesmen who are leading the lawsuit against the companies are Albert Whitehead and Austin Miller-Orteneau. Their cases have been filed since 2008 by 2 Elliot Greenleaf lawyers.

Despite his services, Miller-Orteneau was not paid by Vacation Charters because according to the company, he was not their official employer. Miller-Orteneau got confused with that, so he asked IRS if his status was really non-employee. IRS said that he should have been employed by the company.

After hearing about the first two complaints, several salespeople also joined their lawsuit. The other salespeople were hired as independent dealers. As a result, they got exploited. They were the ones who paid for their own federal income taxes. They also did not receive any benefits that they worthy of, like medical insurance.

After the allegations, Vacation Charters changed their terms and classified all salesmen as their official employees in early 2009.