US Foods Owes Truck Drivers Overtime and Other Wages, Lawsuit Claims

Two long-distance truck drivers filed a lawsuit against their employer. They claimed that US Foods Inc. violated California labor law by not providing compensation for all of the time worked, and for failing to provide required meal times and breaks. The two drivers filed their claims in California Central District Court.

The US Foods Inc. wage and hour class action lawsuit was filed by Alex G. And Manuel R. They took issue with a number of elements of their employer’s practices, saying that the company should have been aware of, or was aware of, California labor law. Allegedly, US Foods Inc. knowingly violated these laws, and put profits ahead of employee rights.

They are not the first company to do so – wage and hour claims have settled in the millions against companies such as Marriott Vacations and TCI Transportation.

Alex and Manuel explain that California labor law requires employers to provide workers with meal times in which they are not required to perform job functions, if their job allows. These meal breaks are called off-duty meal breaks. They note that the law does allow employers to require their workers to be on-duty during meal breaks if their job requires them to continue their operations; these are known as “on-duty” breaks. If a worker specifically agrees to take on-duty meal breaks, they should be paid for them, as it is considered time worked. 

However, Alex and Manuel assert that US Foods Inc. required them to be on-duty while eating meals, even if their job did not require it.

Elaborating on the company’s practice on meal breaks, the drivers note that US Foods Inc. would print a schedule that required workers to continue to be on-duty over their meal, even if the work being performed that day would have allowed them to take an off-duty meal. Allegedly, no regard was given to try to allow workers to take an off-duty break.

Alex and Manuel go on to claim that while employees were required to work through their meals, they were required to “clock out” during scheduled meal times. They add that the company has retaliated against employees who did not comply with this instruction, giving write-ups and that US Foods “has fired many drivers for not complying.”

According to Alex and Manuel, this meant that the company effectively did not pay workers for on-duty mail breaks. They assert that this violates California Labor Code which states that “an employer shall not employ an employee for a work period of more than five hours per day without providing the employee with a meal period of not less than 30 minutes,” unless the employee in question is “relieved of all duty during a 30 minute meal period.” If the employee is not relieved of all duty during that meal period, then the meal period “shall be considered an ‘on duty’ meal period and counted as time worked.”

The workers argue that the labor law violations did not stop there. They say that their employer required drivers to perform work before and after clocking out, including undergoing DOT-required inspections, returning items, etc. Allegedly, the company makes a policy of this, and gives drivers a “write-up” if they do not comply.

Further wage and hour violations allegedly include a failure to pay overtime for hours worked, not providing sufficient breaks given the length of shifts worked, and not paying workers for their labor owed after an employee had ended their time with the company.

In California, wage and hour laws are getting revised, as lawmakers acknowledge that some companies may resort to unlawful tactics to avoid paying workers what they are owed. This has led California lawmakers to pass Assembly Bill 5, a law aiming to extend benefits like those at stake in the US Foods Inc. lawsuit to more workers by classifying them as employees rather than independent contractors.

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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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