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Court upholds Oakland truckers’ on-the-job meals, breaks
By Bob Egelko Updated 1:29 pm, Wednesday, October 29, 2014
A state appeals court has upheld nearly $1 million in damages to Oakland truckers whose employer discouraged meal and rest breaks, deducted an hour’s pay from each driver’s daily shift and treated some drivers as unpaid trainees.
The damages are to be shared by 73 past and present employees of AB Trucking, which serves the Port of Oakland. In Tuesday’s ruling, the First District Court of Appeal also said California’s wage protections do not violate a 1994 federal deregulation law, which prohibited state laws “related to a price, route or service” of truckers in interstate commerce.
California’s laws regulate wages and working conditions, apply equally to other businesses and have only an indirect effect, at most, on trucking companies’ prices and services, the state court said.
The two rulings have established that “meal and rest breaks for truck drivers are protected under California law, and federal law does not interfere with that,” said Theodore Franklin, a lawyer for the drivers.
AB Trucking’s lawyer, Kenneth Weinfield, said Tuesday’s ruling leaves interstate trucking companies caught between differing state and federal regulations and “makes it difficult for them to know which sets of laws apply.” He said the U.S. Department of Transportation did not require paid meal and rest breaks for interstate truckers until last year, when it imposed requirements that differ from California’s laws.
The class-action suit was filed on behalf of drivers employed by AB Trucking between March 2004 and March 2011. Alameda County Superior Court Judge Robert Freedman held ruled in May 2013 after a nonjury trial that the company had violated state laws.
The laws require employers to provide paid time off during work shifts: a 10-minute rest break every four hours and a 30-minute meal break every five hours. Freedman found that AB Trucking, by its work schedules and verbal reprimands, discouraged drivers from taking those breaks, and told them to eat while waiting in line with their trucks to enter the port.
He said the company took away an hour’s pay from drivers every day on the assumption that they were taking an hour for breaks. The judge also said the company wrongly classified some of its drivers as trainees and did not pay them. He awarded the employees $964,000 in damages, and added more than $500,000 for their lawyers’ fees and court costs.
The appeals court upheld Freedman’s findings. Like a state’s minimum-wage laws or speed limits, California’s paid time-off laws are “normal background rules for almost all employers” that do not set prices or interfere with routes and services, the court said in a 3-0 ruling. It was the first state appellate decision to address the issue, which is pending in other cases.
Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko
A state appeals court has upheld nearly $1 million in damages to Oakland truckers whose employer discouraged meal and rest breaks, deducted an hour’s pay from each driver’s daily shift and treated some drivers as unpaid trainees.
The damages are to be shared by 73 past and present employees of AB Trucking, which serves the Port of Oakland. In Tuesday’s ruling, the First District Court of Appeal also said California’s wage protections do not violate a 1994 federal deregulation law, which prohibited state laws “related to a price, route or service” of truckers in interstate commerce.
California’s laws regulate wages and working conditions, apply equally to other businesses and have only an indirect effect, at most, on trucking companies’ prices and services, the state court said.
The two rulings have established that “meal and rest breaks for truck drivers are protected under California law, and federal law does not interfere with that,” said Theodore Franklin, a lawyer for the drivers.
AB Trucking’s lawyer, Kenneth Weinfield, said Tuesday’s ruling leaves interstate trucking companies caught between differing state and federal regulations and “makes it difficult for them to know which sets of laws apply.” He said the U.S. Department of Transportation did not require paid meal and rest breaks for interstate truckers until last year, when it imposed requirements that differ from California’s laws.
The class-action suit was filed on behalf of drivers employed by AB Trucking between March 2004 and March 2011. Alameda County Superior Court Judge Robert Freedman held ruled in May 2013 after a nonjury trial that the company had violated state laws.
The laws require employers to provide paid time off during work shifts: a 10-minute rest break every four hours and a 30-minute meal break every five hours. Freedman found that AB Trucking, by its work schedules and verbal reprimands, discouraged drivers from taking those breaks, and told them to eat while waiting in line with their trucks to enter the port.
He said the company took away an hour’s pay from drivers every day on the assumption that they were taking an hour for breaks. The judge also said the company wrongly classified some of its drivers as trainees and did not pay them. He awarded the employees $964,000 in damages, and added more than $500,000 for their lawyers’ fees and court costs.
The appeals court upheld Freedman’s findings. Like a state’s minimum-wage laws or speed limits, California’s paid time-off laws are “normal background rules for almost all employers” that do not set prices or interfere with routes and services, the court said in a 3-0 ruling. It was the first state appellate decision to address the issue, which is pending in other cases.
Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko
AB Trucking Truck Drivers Win $1M In Damages |
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AB Trucking Truck Drivers Win $1M In Damages
by Spencer • October 30, 2014
73 AB Trucking Drivers Will Share Nearly One Million In Damages73 AB Trucking truck drivers, both past and present, was awarded nearly $1M in damages in state appeals court on Tuesday in California. According to the records, AB Trucking employers discouraged meal and rest breaks, deducted an hour’s pay from each driver’s daily shift and treated some truck drivers as unpaid trainees.
AB Trucking truck drivers serve the Port of Oakland. All 73 drivers will share the total claim as the ruling was upheld at state appeals court. On Tuesday, the First District Court of Appeal also said California’s wage protections do not violate a 1994 federal deregulation law, which prohibited state laws “related to a price, route or service” of truckers in interstate commerce.
California’s laws regulate wages and working conditions, apply equally to other businesses and have only an indirect effect, at most, on trucking companies’ prices and services, the state court said. Under California law, drivers are protected for meals and rest breaks. Federal law doesn’t interfere with that rule making.
http://truckerslogic.com/ab-trucking-truck-drivers-win-1m-damages/
by Spencer • October 30, 2014
73 AB Trucking Drivers Will Share Nearly One Million In Damages73 AB Trucking truck drivers, both past and present, was awarded nearly $1M in damages in state appeals court on Tuesday in California. According to the records, AB Trucking employers discouraged meal and rest breaks, deducted an hour’s pay from each driver’s daily shift and treated some truck drivers as unpaid trainees.
AB Trucking truck drivers serve the Port of Oakland. All 73 drivers will share the total claim as the ruling was upheld at state appeals court. On Tuesday, the First District Court of Appeal also said California’s wage protections do not violate a 1994 federal deregulation law, which prohibited state laws “related to a price, route or service” of truckers in interstate commerce.
California’s laws regulate wages and working conditions, apply equally to other businesses and have only an indirect effect, at most, on trucking companies’ prices and services, the state court said. Under California law, drivers are protected for meals and rest breaks. Federal law doesn’t interfere with that rule making.
http://truckerslogic.com/ab-trucking-truck-drivers-win-1m-damages/
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Intro for SiriusXM
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Caren P. Sencer with Weinberg, Roger and Rosenfeld (plaintiff attorney) interview with Sirius XM'S Road Dog Trucking News -Part 1
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Caren P. Sencer with Weinberg, Roger and Rosenfeld (plaintiff attorney) interview with Sirius XM'S Road Dog Trucking News -Part 2
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Caren P. Sencer with Weinberg, Roger and Rosenfeld (plaintiff attorney) interview with Sirius XM'S Road Dog Trucking News -Part 3
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