Misclassified Port Truck Drivers at Pac 9 Awarded $6.9 Million

Dec 29, 2015

The California Department of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) awarded  $6.9 million to misclassified port truck drivers at the drayage company Pac 9 right before Christmas.  The ruling sends a message loud and clear to the trucking industry that companies that misclassify their drivers as independent contractors , when in fact they are employees, will pay a big price. Port drayage companies that want to survive  will need to comply with the law or face multimillion dollar liability and recurring labor unrest. State courts, federal courts, the National Labor Relations Board, the U.S. Department of Labor, the State Employment Development Department (EDD ), as well as the DLSE, are uniformly rendering decisions that port truck drivers are in fact employees who have been improperly misclassified as independent contractors.

LA Times:  http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-trucker-back-wages-20151223-story.html

KPCC:  http://www.scpr.org/news/2015/12/23/56462/port-trucking-firm-ordered-to-pay-millions-in-back/

Daily Breeze:   http://www.dailybreeze.com/business/20151223/port-truckers-win-landmark-ruling-in-employee-status-hearing

Bloomberg BNA:  BNA Article 12.28.15

Employment Law Daily:  http://hr.cch.com/ELD/EmploymentLawDaily123015.pdf#page=26&zoo
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