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Amazon Flex lawsuit overview:
- Who: Amazon Flex drivers urged a judge to certify their class action lawsuit against their employer.
- Why: The drivers allege that they are misclassified as independent contractors, costing them wages and benefits.
- Where: The case was filed in Washington federal court.
A group of Amazon Flex drivers are urging a judge to grant them class action certification in a lawsuit filed against their employer alleging they are wrongly classified as independent contractors.
In a motion filed June 30 in a Washington federal court, the drivers told U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour that now that the U.S. Supreme Court has decided two cases adjacent to the dispute, their case should be certified.
The class action lawsuit against Amazon.com Inc. and Amazon Logistics Inc. had been stayed while the Supreme Court considered two other lawsuits concerning the application of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). Both cases have since been heard and could have implications for whether the case is allowed to escape arbitration.
In one of the cases, the high court found that a Chicago ramp agent supervisor is not obligated to arbitrate her wage and hour claims against Southwest Airlines after finding that she is exempt under Section 1 of the FAA.
In the other case, the justices found that a former sales representative for Viking River Cruises couldn’t shield her claims from arbitration under the California Private Attorneys General Act because the law undermined the FAA.
Amazon Flex lawsuit alleges employees missed out on pay, benefits
The drivers allege they were all subjected to policies that led to their misclassification as independent contractors, not employees, which then caused them to miss out on pay and benefits.
“Cases challenging workers’ misclassification as independent contractors have been routinely certified as class actions, and certification is appropriate here,” the drivers said in the Amazon Flex lawsuit.
In the filing, the workers said they meet all the requirements to secure class certification and that there were thousands of Flex drivers across the country who could be represented by the case.
In 2016, three drivers who have made deliveries on contract for Amazon.com filed a class action lawsuit saying they should be considered employees not independent contractors.
What do you think of the allegations in the Amazon Flex lawsuit? Let us know in the comments!
The workers are represented by Shannon Liss-Riordan, Harold Lichten and Adelaide Pagano of Lichten & Liss-Riordan PC and Michael C. Subit of Frank Freed Subit & Thomas LLP.
The Amazon Flex lawsuit is Rittmann et al. v. Amazon.com Inc. et al., Case No. 2:16-cv-01554, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
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30 thoughts onAmazon Flex lawsuit over worker misclassification seeks class certification
Please add me. I worked in Ca as a flex driver.
Please add me to the list
Add me
This is silly, im from chicago and im getting paid out 35$ a hour top tier for flex, lowest i will take is 27$ a hour! I am against being classified as a employee for amazon! If it gets to that then you will have to take minimum wages , aka there wont be any surged blocks anymore! They should split it in half! If you wanna be claimed as a employee, then you can do that! But i DO NOT!!! I make almost 5700 a month!! As a independent contractor!!! You guys are silly AF
Ps, ive been doing this for 4 years!! Best four years of my life!!
Yeah 35/ per hr by using bots , which is illegal use , so your essentially stealing your way to a top wage , but I do agree with the viewpoint of an individual choosing to be a independent rather a employee because of the severe wage gap , but your missing the point , the payrate or the base payrate for most places is around $18 per hour and it only bumps if there’s surges. So if you want to be honest the pay rate they offer most of the time isn’t worth the wear and tear on the car , the amount of packages given , the distance between station , home and delivery location , wage and lastly the lack of benefits. Before calling people silly be honest with not only your situation but everyone’s else’s. At the very least us drivers should get some kind of benefits , especially since we’re using our own cars , the least they can do is give some type of incentive for us to stay as drivers and add protection.
I don’t even know where to start…
I went from excellent to deactivated overnight 2 weeks before Christmas and I had a full weeks of blocks scheduled. I started at Amazon approximately 4 months prior to leaving my abusive 16 year marriage so I could save money to get out. Lucky me I reached that goal.. However, 2.5 short months later I was deactivated with not one explanation as to why. This ruined my 7 year old twins Christmas.
More to add.. yes I emailed them and every email possible asking for explanation. Same robotic reply every time with no actual call from anyone.
Hi I’ve worked for Amazon flex program since March of 2022 & began having Amazon flex application issues along with several of their application glitches that started to cause issues with me being able to either complete deliveries or deliver at all I have sent numerous of personal emails along with videos & pictures of the application issues as well as application glitches along with calling their support number & driver support creating tickets as well since June 1, 2022 & all I was receiving was automated email replies from flex support saying thank you for your inquiry someone will reach out but no one was at the time PLUS this program with the company says that they do not have managers nor different departments worked via flex program have direct emails nor direct department to speak with when it comes to technical matters with THEIR application etc that I have to wait for a response which I never did receive until the issues gotten worser & I was calling their support number numerous of times in 1 day literally over 30 times for an entitle weekend because I constantly was being told to just go home that I will still be paid for the days & that my standings(stats) would not be affected which was a lie because they were being affected & I was not getting paid until I finally received a call from escalations by a nice gentleman name Adam because I called so much that particular weekend & Adam expressed how sorry he was because he see several emails I’ve sent along with videos & pictures of the issues/glitches & Adam ensured me that he will send a ticket over for standings dept., earnings dept, technical support will follow up which was June 28, 2022 2 weeks later my standings was partial fixed that was taken from great to “at risk” to now fair & I was paid for the days that I was unable to deliver but was at the Amazon location due to an Amazon issue because I was told it was an Amazon issue not a me issue but NO ONE had followed up with me from technical support still having the SAME issues/glitches I sent another email to Adam & he called me & left a voice & sent me an email on July 20, 2022 apologizing again for technical support still not following up with me & that he will resubmit & still no follow up but now my account is now deactivated & contract is terminated due to the few blocks(routes) that I could not deliver due to THEIR application issues/glitches.
Please. Add my son ronald he worked fpr this place fpr 2 years. Hurt himself while on a route and they fired him and made up some other story and wouldn’t take him to the dot place to do a drug screen cause. They didnt want to send another driver and to finish his route on the ankle he fell on … here in Indianapolis
I’m a Amazon flex driver and have recently been wondering why I’m not an employee as well
Data usage and Flex driver
Please add me
I’m a Amazon flex driver and have recently been wondering why I’m not an employee as well. My job is extremely exhausting I work 14hrs a day sometimes and use a bottle in the truck as a restroom. I don’t get paid enough and even recently got covid touching these dirty packages. I wish I had a lawyer for this.
How are you able to work 14 hours when they say you can’t? You can only work 8 hours a day with flex…
Makes me mad. These people work so hard only to have the MULTIBILLIONAIRE who employs them try to cheat them out of their wages. Guy should be ashamed of himself. I don’t care HOW many charities he wants us all to see he donates to. He’s got struggling people right under his nose. People he has direct access to. People who should be taken care of. ARGH!! It just makes me so angry!!