From Trucks.com, Clarissa Hawes reports on another case where truck drivers were misclassified as independent contractors. Clarissa writes:
A federal judge ruled against Swift Transportation Co. determining that five drivers classified as independent contractors should have been considered employees of the giant carrier.
The plaintiffs claimed in the case that due to the misclassification Swift failed to pay them all the wages required by federal and state wage and hour laws, including the Fair Labor Standards Act.
The drivers considered themselves to be employees because Swift controlled every aspect of their work schedules – from where and how the plaintiffs delivered freight to which routes the truckers had to use.
Swift also controlled the equipment the truckers used, including the maintenance and condition of the trucks, the lawsuit said.
Senior U.S. District Court Judge John W. Sedwick ruled on Jan. 5 that the contractor agreements the drivers signed were employment contracts, making them employees.
The plaintiffs’ attorney Dan Getman said the judge’s ruling over the misclassification question as “significant for the drivers.”
“It has taken us a while to get here, but fundamentally all of the pieces are falling into place,” Getman said. “Now we must determine how much more the company wants to fight or pay what they owe the drivers.”
Read the full story at Swift Transportation Misclassified Drivers as Independent Contractors | Truck.com
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