Several thousand Sprint retail store employees might have been cheated out of sales commissions because of a computer snafu, according to a lawsuit.

Sprint representatives said the company is committed to paying its workers what they are owed.

The salesclerks, however, said that they plugged details of phones, calling plans and accessories that they sold into Sprint’s computer system. But the system reportedly experienced glitches, which meant that many of the Sprint employees didn’t receive all of the commissions they had earned, they said.

As we wrote back in February when they filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Kansas, Roxie Sibley, Jeanne Noel, Ernesto Bennett and Jamie Williams, work or previously worked in Sprint stores in Louisiana.

“They are asking the court to certify the matter as a class-action suit that would include all of the store managers, sales representatives and others who have worked in Sprint Nextel stores since Sprint Corp. combined with Nextel Communications Inc. in 2005.
Because of problems with the company’s computer system, the lawsuit states, Sprint Nextel improperly denied these workers and others commissions they had earned for selling Sprint products and services. The workers estimate that they typically lost commissions of $100 to $500 a month.”

In a new court filing, those bringing the suit estimate that several thousand workers were affected, each losing “hundreds to thousands of dollars.” In all, the damages top $5 million, by their calculations.

"Sprint Nextel has routinely denied its employees their commissions due,” stated Michele R. Fisher, who is representing salesclerks. “The company also makes the internal process for appealing commission shortages so time-consuming and burdensome that many employees just give up pursuing their pay. We plan to help them recover what they earned and are pleased that they will be able to proceed as a class."

Sprint had been arguing that the lawsuit should not be treated as a class-action case. This week U.S. District Court Judge Kathryn Vratil disagreed.

Vratil certified the case as a class-action matter on Monday.

Sprint has until Dec. 22 to provide a list of all the sales clerks who potentially were affected.

“We are disappointed with the certification,” said Matthew Sullivan, a Sprint spokesman. “Sprint is committed to providing employees all the compensation to which they are entitled.”