Former Sony Worker Claims Retaliation

LOS ANGELES (CN) - A Sony Pictures Entertainment employee says the company cooked up a reason to fire him after he filed a labor complaint alleging that Sony refused to pay overtime or allow meal and rest breaks.

Shaun Noble was an intern for one year before Sony hired him as an email analyst in 2001. In his complaint in Superior Court, Noble says he got positive reviews, with ratings of "exceeds improvement" or higher throughout his employment.

However, Noble says he was unhappy with the way Sony treated its employees. In June, 2007 Noble filed his class action labor complaint. Sony answered the lawsuit in July. In January 2008, Noble claims Sony's lawyers interviewed him about his allegations. Four business days later, Sony allegedly suspended Noble in order to conduct an investigation into "an appropriate access to a database." Two managers interviewed Noble about his personal instant messaging chat log before Sony fired him in February 2008.

Noble says Sony "swiftly and cunningly retaliated" against him for filing the labor complaint. He says his chat log was private and was not a valid basis for his termination.

Noble is represented by Steven Serratore.

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