FedEx jury says company doesn’t owe drivers overtime
FedEx Corp. didn’t illegally deny overtime pay to contract delivery drivers who said the company wrongly called them entrepreneurs, a Seattle jury decided.
FedEx Corp. didn’t illegally deny overtime pay to contract delivery drivers who said the company wrongly called them entrepreneurs, a Seattle jury decided.
More than 320 contract ground drivers at FedEx sued in a 2004 class- action, or group, lawsuit, demanding overtime at 1 1/2 times their regular pay. They also wanted reimbursement for uniforms.
“Contractors freely chose to enter contracts with FedEx and operate their businesses as they choose,” said FedEx spokesman Maury Lane after the verdict. The drivers will appeal, said their attorney, Rebecca Roe. “We are disappointed,” she said.
FedEx, based in Memphis, Tennessee, still faces a national class-action lawsuit over driver pay and lost a similar case in California last year. The decision in Washington state court has no bearing on the federal case in South Bend, Indiana.
The Indiana case involves more than 30,000 former and current contractors. They alleged they’re supposed to be entrepreneurs and that FedEx shouldn’t be allowed to require them to wear company uniforms or dictate rules about their personal appearance and the cleanliness of the trucks.
The group in that case is a mix of multi-route workers who can hire their own employees, and single-route drivers who are responsible for their own deliveries. The Seattle case covered only drivers with single routes.
Contract drivers in the federal class action allege that because of the company’s control over them, they should be treated as full-time employees and receive regular workers’ benefits. FedEx denied the allegations and has asked US district judge Robert Miller in South Bend to dismiss the case.
Plaintiffs’ lawyers representing drivers in the federal class action monitored the Seattle trial and jury decision. Those lawyers estimate a $1bn payout in the federal case if the contractors prevail.
FedEx paid $26.8m to 203 contractors and their lawyers in a California state case last year.
The US Internal Revenue Service is investigating whether FedEx misclassified contract drivers for tax purposes in 2002, and 2004 to 2006. The tax agency issued and then withdrew a $319m preliminary assessment, saying FedEx categorised contractors improperly.
