The parties are now ready to brief whether or not Lease Operators are employees or contractors for purposes of deciding whether the Federal Arbitration Act applies to the drivers or not so that the District Court can decide. LEASE PURCHASE PROGRAM Choose any eligible home listed for sale Commit to a one-year lease upfront Pay a standard rental deposit Rental rate certainty for five years* Right to Purchase at a locked-in rate for five years* Option to buy any time during the lease No penalties for deciding not to purchase *Three years in Texas You need to know about the ticket before you purchase it. Swift also couldnt defeat the class action by way of a class action waiver. Swift has repeatedly asked the Court to consider whether the drivers are employees based only on the contract and lease. The fuel approximated for entire trip, is then subtracted from wat the load milage would pay, for the load/trip. has nothing to do with this case, the proposed release language could have been viewed as prohibiting the forced labor and unconscionability claims involving Swift and Centrals misuse of the DAC Report. Nevertheless, the Ninth Circuit refused to grant the mandamus petition and order the District Court to reverse the prior decision sending the case to arbitration. Recent Filings and Decisions Posted August 18, 2015. Does anyone have a number for the person to contact about the status, I am one of these drivers in the lawsuit against Swift, I was told to show proof of overtime worked by supplying my settlement for the nine years I was an owner operator with swift, three days ago Monday, 11 March, I was told that Swifts records show that I did not work the hours that I say I did and I have proof, so there for I will probably not be compensated , word True, I am going to just keep my fingers crossed and see what becomes of all of this, it has been about 10 years now in the making, will keep posted. (LogOut/ Swift has said that the contract must be signed by March 1st, 2017, and is retroactive to January 1st, 2017. The companies insist they cant tell what the miles are accurately. Each side will have 20 minutes to present their argument and respond to the Judges questions. 3) a negative credit report from Swift or IEL, or These companies are just trying to offset the cost of doing business with these people saying that you can own your own truck and have your own business. Driverless trucks are reality already. and also be entitled to minimum wage for each week of work, as well as a variety of other damages. (321 ORDER that plaintiffs motion at [315] is GRANTED i.pdf 38KB), Click here to review the 9th Circuits decision. On January 15th, 2019, the Supreme Court reached a unanimous decision in truckers favorruling that truckers engaged in interstate commerce are exempt from the FAA under Section 1, regardless of whether their contracts call them contractors or employees. Dont be stupid. Plaintiffs filed their Oppositions to both sets of motions (665and671) on August 3rdand August 6th. (15 Opinion Denying Mandamus.pdf 73KB) It may take a short period for the parties and the District Court to work out the effect of the decision, however, Plaintiffs are optimistic however, given that the Ninth Circuit affirmed our legal position. Screwed again by swift, It just sounds like driving a truck is just not what it used to be and you cant make a good living at it anymore. Plaintiffs expect to argue that if Swift mis-treated the drivers as employees (while calling them independent contractors) drivers would be entitled to back pay for deductions, such as lease, insurance, tolls, gas, bonds, etc. We will post more as new information becomes available. It is not known what amount will be assigned to each driver, but if it is similar to the Central Refrigerated case, Swift could be looking at a payout of a quarter of a BILLION dollars. Especially if you are hauling toilet paper. The law of truck driver misclassification as independent contractors continues to develop, with many courts finding drivers misclassified. Plaintiffs in this case relied upon theNew Primerationale as one of the reasons for affirming our District Court decision. 1-5 Months If a driver participates in such a meeting, he or she should request a copy of any papers that they are asked to sign. Please continue to check back here for further updates, and if any of your contact information changes, please call 844-330-6991 to update it. If the settlement is approved by the Court, it will resolve the claims of roughly 20,000 owner operator drivers (since 1999) in this case. Click here to read the brief filed with the Court. You should know that the conservative Supreme Court and previous conservative Congresses have, for the last two decades, increasingly made arbitration a priority for all employment and consumer cases, effectively allowing large and powerful companies the power to insulate themselves from lawsuits by cantankerous employees and consumers they have cheated. If you believe otherwise, you are wrong ! TheNew Primecase is not yet set for argument, but it will likely be during the October 2018 termand a final decision on the issue will not happen until sometime after that. I struggle to make ends meet and pay my taxes each and every year which is yet another struggle. For the most part, Swift has refused to participate in discovery, though this may change in light of the Courts ruling today. The Ninth Circuit may take as long as it wishes, either to schedule argument or to decide the appeal without argument. If you delay in filing the Consent to Sue Form, part or all of your claim may be barred by the statute of limitation.. This ruling will be appealed, swift could be sold, bankrupted etc..The Lawyers will drag this out for years. For the 9 months I was employed there I was hearing from numerous drivers that the pay scale was off. KLM Credits - Amsterdam Forum - Tripadvisor I hope they get drug tested too. CDL Grad, No Experience Getman Sweeney is hopeful that the Court will affirm our position and reverse the District Court, since the Ninth Circuit already ruled that Plaintiffs were correct on this precise question in its prior ruling on the mandamus petition. If you would like to join, please navigate toSwift Justiceand click Join the Case., Waiting On the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Posted on January 4, 2013. Then do a check on their Swift lawsuit update. Yea, a driver cant even make enough to support his or her family and has to stay out on the road away from family gathering and holidays and drive in some of the most unfavourable conditions and fight to get a shower and stay in compliance with federal regulations to keep from getting citations usually due to piss poor maintenance. If you have not received your check within three weeks (by 5/4/2020), please contact SSI. We expect Judge Sedwick to reaffirm his prior ruling that he will hear the evidence to determine if drivers were misclassified and are in fact employees and not make the decision solely on the basis of the contract. Over the last few months, numerous Plaintiffs have filed arbitration demands, seeking to have the American Arbitration Association declare that the arbitrations can proceed under a financial hardship waiver. Defendants have already contacted the Courts chambers to request information from the Court on how to delay all briefing on the plaintiffs motion while defendants get their motion to send the case to arbitration ready, which is due by May 25, 2010. Go to the Haas Bergman (spelling may be incorrect) website and checkout their lawsuits. Motion to Vacate Stay, STC 277 Motion to Lift Stay, Motion to Vacate, STC 8 Petitioners reply to answer to Writ of Mandamus petition, STC 7 1 D Response to Writ of Mandamus of Real Parties In Interest, STC 229 ORDER FROM CHAMBERS denying Plaintiffs' Motion for Reconsideration, STC 226 Motion for Reconsideration re Order on Motion to Certify Class, STC 223 Order and Opinion Compelling Arbitration, STC 175 Declaration of Elizabeth Parrish 172 Response to Motion, STC 188 P Response in Oppose Motion to Compel Arbitration and Dismiss P claims, STC 187 p Reply in Support MOTION to Certify Class, STC_Def to J Berman re arbitration 3-19-10. In order for all 15,000 other drivers to see any payment from Swift, a new lawsuit will have to be filed on their behalf. While the arguments are highly technical, the issues are critical to the ability of Plaintiffs to efficiently secure full relief for all members of the various classes. During the period that the parties have been waiting for the Courts decision, the Drivers have served discovery demands and held many meetings to discuss the scope of discovery. When plaintiffs win a pay case, the defendant must pay the plaintiffs costs and attorneys fees. The Final Fairness Hearing has been scheduled for January 22, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. at the Federal Courthouse in Phoenix, AZ. Click here to read Plaintiffs opening Appeal Brief.Click here to read Defendants Response.Click here to read Plaintiffs Reply Brief. Judge Sedwick did not rule on the Plaintiffs motions, but did rule that the case must go to arbitration. petition for a writ of mandamus raises issues that warrant a response. Drivers who received demands for all remaining Lease payments following a default should show this Parrish affidavit to any collections agency or credit reporting agency. Many drivers do not know why they owe money or they dispute the debt claim. I do agree there are way too many frivolous law suits going on. We are on the same page when it comes to Monthly Six figure golden parachutes for PT work. Instead, Swift argues that the District Court erred by considering the Lease as well as the Contractor Agreement in reaching its decision. We need to come together as a family and have one voice. The cases are in a legal limbo as the AAA recognizes that the arbitration clause drafted by Swift and IEL requires an arbitrator to determine whether the claimants are exempt from having to pay the filing fees. The process for deciding whether the drivers are employees has not been settled by the Court. According to court documents, Swift Transportation is agreeing to pay $7.25 million. Objectionto the proposed Ellis class settlement. John Huetter. last edited on Monday, December 6 2010 at 9:39am, Posted on Wednesday, October 20 2010 at 5:32pm. Drivers are hired by the owner operator and are at the mercy of that owner.