California Man Alleges FedEx Broke Driver Overtime Rules by Misclassifying Linehaul Drivers

FedEx is facing a new class action wage and hour lawsuit alleging the shipping company violated driver overtime rules by classifying the claimant and other drivers as independent contractors.

The class action wage and hour lawsuit was filed by a man from California who claims the company wrongfully denied him and other class members overtime by wrongfully misclassifying them as independent contractors.

Plaintiff K.C. alleges that worked for FedEx as a linehaul trucker from November 2005 to August 2017, but he says he was not paid any overtime and was regularly denied meal breaks during this period.

K.C. says he and other linehaul truckers provide transportation services for various locations, and they cannot transport shipments for other companies while driving a FedEx truck.

“Linehaul” refers to movements of freight with different types of transportation including land, air or waterway between distant cities. This means that linehaul truckers are continuously driving long hours in very demanding schedules, which makes driver overtime rules vital for the shipping companies like FedEx and their drivers.

Overview of Class Action Wage and Hour Lawsuit

The class action wage and hour lawsuit point out FedEx linehaul truck drivers are a vital part of the shipping company’s services, with FedEx regularly advertising that it “wants to provide for package pick-up and 18 delivery services through a network of nationwide stations.”

In other words, according to the lawsuit, FedEx would not be able to conduct its business operations without its truck drivers. However, the shipping company still allegedly classified K.C. and other class members as independent contractors rather than non exempt minimum wage employees.

FedEx allegedly did this to increase their profit margins, as companies are not required to pay for labor costs or overtime to independent contractors. Independent contractors are exempt from minimum wage protections, which includes a guaranteed hourly wage, overtime, and any reimbursement of expenses incurred during their occupational duties.

Companies must carefully evaluate when determining employees to be independent contractors. Companies have limited control over how their workers do their jobs if they are classified as independent contractors. This was allegedly not the case with K.C. and other linehaul drivers, with the company reportedly having almost complete control of their daily routes and shipments.

According to the class action wage and hour lawsuit, FedEx set delivery times, assignments, and schedules for their drivers while requiring them to perform to company-level customer service standards. The company also had control of their equipment, electronic logging devices, and trucks, allegedly giving the workers virtually no control in how they did their job.

Under California labor laws, drivers must be paid overtime rates of one and a half times their hourly rate after working over 40 hours a week or more than eight hours in a single day. In addition, companies must provide half hour meal breaks every five hours and must give workers an extra hour of pay if they are forced to work through their meal breaks.

K.C. alleges the company violated major driver overtime rules by misclassifying him and other workers as independent contractors, as they were not provided overtime or meal and rest breaks.

K.C. and proposed Class Members are seeking damages for all missing overtime and missed meal breaks that they incurred over the years of working for FedEx.

This Wage and Hour Class Action Lawsuit is Case No. 5:19-cv-00429, in the Superior Court of California for the County of San Bernardio.

Join a Free Trucker Overtime Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you have worked as a contract truck driver and believe your carrier has failed to pay you minimum wage or overtime, or otherwise might not have honored a contract with you, you may qualify to file a truck driver lawsuit or class action lawsuit.

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