A class-action lawsuit filed in November 2016 against what was then Knight Transportation has been settled for just $400,000, with a payout of less than $130 per plaintiff.
The lead plaintiff is driver Robert Martinez, but the class action brought in drivers who worked for Knight — now Knight-Swift — and lived in Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, Utah and Colorado but who drove for Knight in California from Sept. 30, 2012, until March 27 earlier this year, when the settlement was reached.
The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California. An attempt by Arizona-based Knight to have the venue changed ultimately was rejected.
The Martinez suit was filed in California, according to a Knight (NYSE: KNX) filing from 2017, because the focus of the suit was a set of California regulations. In his suit, Martinez said Knight had not provided meal breaks required by California law; had not paid him or other drivers for “non-productive work and rest breaks”; had not paid “rest break premiums”; had not provided accurate wage statements; had not paid termination pay; and had engaged in “unfair business practices.”
In that filing, Knight said it was “dubious whether [Martinez] can even bring such claims” given that he was not a California resident. The company also argued questioned whether if Martinez could bring a claim in California. The company also questioned “which law would apply” if Martinez could bring a claim in California. But Judge Dale Drozd disagreed back in 2017.
Drozd was not the judge who approved the settlement. That task was handled by Judge Sheila Oberto.
After deducting other costs, including attorneys’ fees, the payout per recipient is expected to be $127.61, according to the court document on the settlement filed Tuesday. Martinez receives an additional $10,000. The settlement document reviewed its attempts to reach the 5,648 drivers who were seen as possibly eligible for a payout. But as of Aug. 16, according to the document, the company handling the claims had received back 899 claim forms, with 814 deemed valid.
Attorneys who pursued the litigation for seven years do not appear to have done much better. Attorneys’ fees in the case were set at up to $100,000 and up to $20,000 for litigation costs.
The ruling comes as California’s rest break rules are again gripped with uncertainty. After a 2018 ruling by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration that the state’s meal and rest break rules were preempted by federal law, FMCSA recently opened the door to granting states more leeway.
The California rules require a 30-minute meal break if the number of hours worked in a day exceeds five. A 10-hour shift brings another 30-minute meal break. Each four hours of work also earns the driver a 10-minute rest period.
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BA
I received my check from this lawsuit and it’s a joke or it was a fluke in the system but it is only $1.29 hahaha what a joke
safe driver
Nice information! Thanks for this article
https://safedriverdxb.com/
Andrew Daratzikis
That’s crazy how little they received.
Werner enterprises ended up paying 38 million to a guy that went to their driving school, but did not hire him cause he was deaf. I’m not sure how deaf he was, but he won his case for 38 million gross.
Just crazy!!!
Jeffrey A Snyder
Wish I got my money from the class action suit for Werner we all got ripped off by the NE court&NJ lawyers ran team for home Depot out of GA RDC back in 2011-2012
Jay Hoesly
As a knight driver honestly this guy could have drove the amount in a year than wait for all of this to unfold. All I see is another lazy driver that wants to get paid while sitting on his hands instead of doing the work which other like me enjoy doing. I get you want to get paid for your meal breaks but the 30 min is always up to the driver to take and their responsibility. Way too many people go into this field thinking when I start I’m going to make the big bucks, but that comes with experience and safe driving CSA counts fellas. You can easily make 6 figures a year but you have to work for and I mean work for it.
John A Naclerio
I worked for knight out of there las Vegas terminal never had a problem they treated me very well never had a problem getting extra pay that was twenty years ago
TONY ANDERSON
Driver training is lacking i see it every day tailgating speeding and not knowing he rules of the road few don’t speak English any more that one puzzles me I guess we can throw out the green Bible nobody seems to follow it
Don Karr
Drivers are required by the Federal DOT. HOS laws are required everyday they drive. To take a 30 minute break! So why does California get special laws about the 30 minute break? I refuse to deliver or haul products out of California. For that matter anywhere on the West coast! Due to all their high taxes abb no d crazy regulations