|
 In a decision with implications for hundreds of companies and
thousands of truckers in Southern California alone, a San Diego
County Superior Court judge held that the seven plaintiffs should
have been defined as employees of Pacer Cartage under California's
labor law, not as independent owner-operators.
Judge Jay Bloom ruled the seven drivers, who were Hispanic and spoke
little English, were entitled to reimbursement for the money
California-based Pacer deducted from their wages for the truck
leases, insurance, vehicle maintenance, fuel and other out-of-pocket
expenses.
That judgment, returned on Wednesday after a 14-day non-jury trial,
came to just over $2 million collectively, the same sum previously
awarded to the seven truckers by a state labor commissioner and
appealed to the court by the company.
 Alvin Gomez, the lead plaintiff's attorney, said on Friday the
ruling would bolster litigation already brought against several
other trucking firms and for additional wage-theft lawsuits he
planned to file next week.
"This is a tremendous victory in the fight against
misclassification," Gomez said, adding that the ruling had the
potential to "forever reshape the United States trucking industry."
He said most California freight hauling companies now operate under
the same complex truck-leasing scheme, which the judge ruled
violates state labor law.
Pacer, a subsidiary of global shipping company XPO Logistics Inc,
plans to appeal the judge's decision, said Troy Cooper, XPO's chief
operating officer.
"We believe the drivers in question are properly classified as
contractors, and that this case is without merit," he said.
[to top of second column] |
The truckers worked at the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach,
the busiest U.S. container cargo hub.
Gomez said misclassification of drivers became more pervasive after
a new clean air program went into effect in 2008, barring older,
heavier-polluting trucks from the ports.
Many drivers, unable to afford to buy new trucks of their own, were
forced to sell their rigs and lease trucks from shipping companies,
which also acquired exclusive access to the waterfront under port
"concessions" created under the clean-air program.
The truckers were barred from entering the ports to pick up cargo
unless driving for an authorized concession. And their lease
arrangements effectively locked them in to driving for no more than
one company.
(Additional reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by
Richard Borsuk)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
