RENO, Nev. (AP) — A former worker at Amazon.com's distribution center in northern Nevada is suing the online retailer, claiming he and thousands of other employees companywide are owed potentially millions of dollars in unpaid overtime.

Richard Austin worked at the Amazon warehouse in Fernley about 30 miles east of Reno for a year from September 2008 until this past summer. He filed the suit seeking class-action status for all workers late last month in U.S. District Court in Seattle, where Amazon is based.

Mark Thierman, one of Austin's Reno-based lawyers, said the suit alleges violation of federal fair labor standards stemming from the company's time-clock system, which rounds start and end times to the nearest quarter-hour mark.

He said the system does not allow for early clocking in, and if a worker clocked out seven minutes into overtime, the clock showed the scheduled ending time.

The suit also states that Austin and others were required to work “off the clock” and that also entitles them to compensation.

“That could lead to a lot of overtime,” Thierman said.

He estimated there are about 21,000 hourly workers at all of Amazon.com's sites. At a typical wage of $10 per hour, “we figure that's close to $21 million a year.”

“This is a tech company, and they know better and can do better. With an electronic punch-in system, why are they rounding?” he asked.

Amazon.com spokesman Craig Berman said the company had no comment on the lawsuit.