Agency Won’t Pursue AOL Labor Dispute

The Labor Department has decided not to pursue complaints over the use of unpaid volunteers by America Online, the world’s largest Internet service provider.

The department informed AOL, owned by AOL Time Warner Inc., that because of the agency’s limited resources, it was “inappropriate” for the government to intervene in the dispute, which pitted the technology giant against its own so-called community leaders, who handled subscriber requests and supervised chat rooms.

The decision leaves the case in the hands of federal judges, who are considering lawsuits filed by the volunteers under the U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act. One lawsuit was filed in May 1999 in New York, and another was filed this week in San Jose.