Post by HardTimeTrucker on Feb 6, 2010 14:22:38 GMT -5
SC Atlantic Trucking Company Owner/Operator is an Employee, Court Rules
By Rip Watson
senior reporter
2/4/2005
A U.S. District Court judge has ruled that an owner/operator is considered to be an employee, the latest ruling in a continuing battle over driver status.
Judge Timothy Corrigan ruled in late December that an owner/operator was fired improperly because he refused to take a load. In addition, the court found the driver could not be forced to be part of an arbitration process to resolve the case. In the case of Charlton Bell vs. Atlantic trucking Co., Charleston, SC., the company filed an appeal on Jan. 5.
The court also said that the conditions of the contract (leasing agreement) between Bell and the company generally met a series of test that determines whether a worker is a contractor or an employee. Among the conditions were clauses that indicated Bell could not be forced to take a load he did not want to haul and couldn't work for competitors, according to court documents.
"While the contract's title and some of it's provisions signal that Bell was a true independent contractor, other provisions, particularly the non compete clause and Atlantic Trucking's course of behavior, denominate Bell as an employee,"Corrigan said in his ruling. The judge also found the company couldn't compel arbitration because a law called the federal Arbitration Act doesn't apply to interstate commerce.
Both the company and Bell's attorney declined to comment on the case. But ATA General Counsel Robert Digges told Transport Topics he didn't believe the court ruling properly applied the tests that are meant to determine wether a worker is a contractor or an employee.
Driver status has been in dispute in several cases involving FedEx Corp's ground unit drivers, which have continued in both state and federal courts, as well as for other motor carriers.
FedEx and other companies have won some of these cases, contending that workers are contractors, Lawyers for workers who are seeking employee status also have won in some venues.
Employee status for drivers continues to be an issue in Southern California ports, where the Teamsters union and environmental groups want drayage truckers to become employees.
The effort to change the current independent contractor status has been rebuffed successfully thus far by American Trucking Associations.
The Atlantic Trucking dispute began when the company directed Bell to pick up a load in Daytona Beach, Fla., in a cargo (high cube) container with one more foot of vertical storage space than standard containers. According to court papers, Bell was told none of the larger containers were available at the port where he went to obtain one. He then was told by an Atlantic Trucking agent to take the empty container to the customer, which refused to accept it.
The ruling said Bell than was told to take the empty container to Orlando, Fl which Bell refused to do.
Bell, who is African-American, also filed a racial discrimination complaint, claiming that a white driver had refused to take a similar assignment and kept his job.
By Rip Watson
senior reporter
2/4/2005
A U.S. District Court judge has ruled that an owner/operator is considered to be an employee, the latest ruling in a continuing battle over driver status.
Judge Timothy Corrigan ruled in late December that an owner/operator was fired improperly because he refused to take a load. In addition, the court found the driver could not be forced to be part of an arbitration process to resolve the case. In the case of Charlton Bell vs. Atlantic trucking Co., Charleston, SC., the company filed an appeal on Jan. 5.
The court also said that the conditions of the contract (leasing agreement) between Bell and the company generally met a series of test that determines whether a worker is a contractor or an employee. Among the conditions were clauses that indicated Bell could not be forced to take a load he did not want to haul and couldn't work for competitors, according to court documents.
"While the contract's title and some of it's provisions signal that Bell was a true independent contractor, other provisions, particularly the non compete clause and Atlantic Trucking's course of behavior, denominate Bell as an employee,"Corrigan said in his ruling. The judge also found the company couldn't compel arbitration because a law called the federal Arbitration Act doesn't apply to interstate commerce.
Both the company and Bell's attorney declined to comment on the case. But ATA General Counsel Robert Digges told Transport Topics he didn't believe the court ruling properly applied the tests that are meant to determine wether a worker is a contractor or an employee.
Driver status has been in dispute in several cases involving FedEx Corp's ground unit drivers, which have continued in both state and federal courts, as well as for other motor carriers.
FedEx and other companies have won some of these cases, contending that workers are contractors, Lawyers for workers who are seeking employee status also have won in some venues.
Employee status for drivers continues to be an issue in Southern California ports, where the Teamsters union and environmental groups want drayage truckers to become employees.
The effort to change the current independent contractor status has been rebuffed successfully thus far by American Trucking Associations.
The Atlantic Trucking dispute began when the company directed Bell to pick up a load in Daytona Beach, Fla., in a cargo (high cube) container with one more foot of vertical storage space than standard containers. According to court papers, Bell was told none of the larger containers were available at the port where he went to obtain one. He then was told by an Atlantic Trucking agent to take the empty container to the customer, which refused to accept it.
The ruling said Bell than was told to take the empty container to Orlando, Fl which Bell refused to do.
Bell, who is African-American, also filed a racial discrimination complaint, claiming that a white driver had refused to take a similar assignment and kept his job.