(Reuters) - Groups of mostly former FedEx
drivers in California and Oregon can move forward with lawsuits alleging
they are owed unpaid wages and benefits under state and federal labor
laws after a U.S. appeals court said Wednesday they were employees, not
independent contractors.
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals,
sitting in Portland, Oregon, reversed a lower court's ruling, noting
that FedEx drivers wear company uniforms, drive company-approved
vehicles and are told where and when to deliver packages.
The appeals court noted that the claims brought by the California
and Oregon drivers are among similar cases filed against FedEx in
approximately 40 states. Other courts have sided with FedEx, finding
that drivers are independent contractors.
FedEx said Wednesday it will challenge the decision, and will ask
the full 9th Circuit to review the panel's findings.
"We fundamentally disagree with these rulings," FedEx Ground Senior
Vice President and General Counsel Cary Blancett said in a
statement.
The FedEx cases highlight how employees and independent contractors
are entitled to different rights and protections under a patchwork
of federal and state labor laws.
Non-exempt employees are entitled to overtime compensation under the
federal Fair Labor Standards Act, protection under state minimum
wage laws and time off under the Family Medical Leave Act, for
example, whereas independent contractors are not.
The California case was brought by about 2,300 workers who were
full-time FedEx delivery drivers between 2000 and 2007. The Oregon
claims were brought by roughly 360 full-time FedEx delivery drivers
between 1999 and 2009. Under the terms of an operating agreement
used by FedEx, the drivers were classified as independent
contractors, court documents state.
But, FedEx had a "broad right to control the manner in which its
drivers perform their work," the panel wrote in determining the
drivers were employees.
The panel highlighted the fact that FedEx assigned the drivers
delivery areas, directed where packages went and assessed drivers'
workloads. Though drivers provided their own vehicles, the agreement
used by FedEx mandated that vans have certain dimensions, the FedEx
logo and be painted a specific shade of Sherwin-Williams paint known
as "FedEx white".
FedEx said that it is no longer using the operating agreement on
which the 9th Circuit's rulings were based and that it has updated
its agreements to reflect state-level legal and regulatory changes,
clarifying that FedEx Ground drivers are independent contractors.
The cases are Dean Alexander, et al v. FedEx Ground Package System
Inc dba FedEx Home Delivery and Edward Slayman, et al v. FedEx
Ground Package System Inc dba FedEx Home Delivery, 9th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals, Nos. 12-17458 and 12-35525.
(Editing by Grant McCool, Alexia Garamfalvi and Bernard Orr)
