So many companies use this nasty trick, and I’m really glad they ruled against them. Let’s see if it goes to SCOTUS:
A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that 2,300 drivers working for FedEx Corp. in California were misclassified as independent contractors instead of employees.
As a result, the company may owe its drivers hundreds of millions of dollars for allegedly illegally shifting costs to them for FedEx branded trucks, uniforms and scanners, as well as come up with back pay for missed meal- and rest-periods, overtime compensation and penalties.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth District ruled that FedEx drivers were employees “as a matter of law under California’s right-to-control‘ test” and “FedEx’s labeling of the drivers as ‘independent contractors’ in its operating agreement did not conclusively make them so.”
The case, known as Alexander v. FedEx, covers employees in California between 2000 and 2007. This is one of three class actions covered by the ruling that also affects FedEx drivers in Oregon.
