Tech Company CrowdFlower Denies Labor Violation
By Erik Neumann, Mission Local
CrowdFlower, a tech company based in the Mission District, boasts on its website of having “The World’s Largest Workforce,” performing hundreds of millions of tasks for Web-based client companies. Now, one of those virtual workers has filed a lawsuit in federal court charging that CrowdFlower broke the law by paying less than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.
An Oregon man, Christopher Otey, brought the action on behalf of himself and others who found work through CrowdFlower. But unlike most employers, CrowdFlower — which vigorously denies any wrongdoing — said it had no idea who Otey was.
Based 723 miles away from San Francisco in Astoria, Ore., Otey worked online for the Internet-based company’s clients, who use workers to do things like identify people in photos and verify phone numbers — minute, repetitive tasks that are too subjective and subtle for computers to do.
Read the complete story at Mission Local.
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Lukas Biewald, CEO of CrowdFlower, at the company's Mission District offices: “I think what we're doing is providing a new way for people to make money from their homes.” Photo courtesy of Mission Local.
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