San Francisco, Oct 30 (IANS): A former Facebook employee is suing the social media giant for allegedly misclassifying employees to exempt them from overtime pay.

According to a report in arstechnica.com on Monday, Susie Bigger, a former client solutions manager at Facebook's office in Chicago, has alleged that she and other Facebook employees are illegally classified as managers as part of "defendant's scheme to deprive them of overtime compensation".

The proposed class-action lawsuit, filed in a US court, is seekingAback pay, damages, interest and attorneys fees for an untold number of Facebook employees.

"This lawsuit is without merit and we will defend ourselves vigorously," Facebook told Ars Technica.

The lawsuit described a "systematic, companywide wrongful classification" system for Client Solutions Managers, Customer Solutions Managers, Customer Account Managers, "or other similarly titled positions".

"CSMs do not perform duties related to the management or general business operations of Facebook. Rather, CSMs' duties constitute the principal production activity of Facebook as a social media and marketing platform," the lawsuit alleged.

Facebook is set to announce its third-quarter results this week.