misclassification

Driving a truck is a lot harder than most people think. It not only involves being away from home for long periods of time, hours on the road, and having to spend most nights sleeping in the truck, it also involves a lot more physical labor than one might imagine. Drivers are responsible for making sure the cargo is properly secured and may have to load and unload the truck themselves.

Traditionally, all of the hard work and loneliness came with decent pay, so drivers could be able to provide for themselves and their families. These days, transportation companies are making it difficult to earn a decent living from driving a truck, but the job hasn’t gotten any easier.

According to a recent news article for ABC 7 Los Angeles, truck drivers recently walked off the job at Long Beach and Los Angeles ports to protest low wages and employment misclassification, which is costing them much-needed benefits. Continue Reading ›

Nationwide, there has been a rise in wage and hour claims related to mis-classification. In a recent success story for employees in California, a trial court awarded truck drivers nearly $1 million in damages plus attorneys’ fees, litigation expenses and additional enhancements in the class action. The defendant employer, Oakland Port Services Corp (AB Trucking) had previously appealed a trial court decision on the grounds that federal law preempted California’s meal and rest break requirements. The appellate court disagreed and reaffirmed the trial court decision.

Two drivers for the defendant company filed a class action lawsuit against Oakland Port Services Corp after the company denied wages for weekend work. The employer improperly misclassified the drivers as “unpaid trainees” and failed to provide state mandated meal and rest breaks.

The trial court had previously certified a class of drivers to performed work for the company out of its Oakland facility. In May of 2013, the trial court awarded the drivers a total of $964,557, including $487,810.50 in attorneys’ fees, $42,106.16 in litigation expenses, as well as $20,000 in class representative awards.

Articles Posted in misclassification

LA Truck Drivers Protest Wages and Employment Misclassification

Drivers Win $1 Million in Wage and Hour Class Action