At a time of spiraling inflation and high gas prices, the First Circuit showed little concern about an argument that America’s supply-chain problems will be even worse if truck drivers must be paid for the time they spend on the road but not working.
“There’s something anti-common-sensical about what you’re saying,” U.S. Circuit Judge Kermit Lipez told attorney James Hanson, who represents the trucking industry. “You’re taking a position that defies common sense and is contrary to the longstanding position of the Department of Labor.”
Lipez is part of a panel in Boston that heard an appeal Wednesday in a class action against CRST, one of the country’s largest private trucking companies, by more than 9,000 drivers. The case has far larger ramifications than even that, however, because any ruling could affect a large percentage of the country’s more than 3.5 million truck drivers.
At the root of the case is a federal law that prohibits truck drivers from working more than 14 hours a day. To keep products moving briskly on long-haul trips, it’s common for shipping companies to use a tag team of two drivers who work 14-hour shifts. Drivers who are off-duty typically spend time in a sleeping berth where they can rest, as the name suggests, or engage in other activities like watching movies, preparing meals, reading and surfing the internet.
The question is how much of this off-duty time is “work time” that must be compensated at minimum wage. At oral argument Wednesday, the...
Quince is looking to sidestep a proposed class action lawsuit accusing it of “defraud[ing] customers as to the value of thousands of … products sold on its website.” In a newly filed motion to dis...