A driver working for a Massachusetts trucking company was fired from his job after he refused to continue driving when it would have put him over hours. Not willing to be fired for following the law, the driver took his company to court and won his reinstatement along with $131,000.
According to an investigation conducted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the company, Brillo Motor Transportation, was guilty of violating the Surface Transportation Assistance Act which prevents companies from discriminating against employees for refusing to operate a commercial motor vehicle under unsafe or illegal circumstances.
Brillo owed the driver $96,864 in back pay and wages when they fired him. They were forced to pay all of the back wages including interest, $9,669 in compensatory damages, and $25,000 in punitive damages along with paying the driver’s legal fees.
In addition to the monetary payment, they rehired the driver, removed any references to his firing from the record, and rescinded any and all bad references they may have made against him.
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Source: overdrive, fleetowner
We’ve all been harassed by companies to break the law. It’s about time one got knocked on its backside for it.
😉
How long was this guy out of work to get 96k in back pay?
I’m curious about that too. Shouldn’t something have been said after the first few thousand?
Actually the article says thats what they owed him WHEN they fired him. So apparently this guy was workin for a year or more without a single paycheck.
Good for him and God bless him for standing up for the right and correct things in life! I should have done that years ago! Yes, dispatchers and bosses tell you :”That load has to be their as we promised!” While on the other side of the coin they are lying through their teeth to cover their blunders mistakes and outright lies and Always blame the driver! “He must have gotten lost, or he could be in a Truck Stop I’ll track him down for you.” When they really told a Client that the load would be there Knowing it would be impossible to make it in that time frame! The old days of telling us “Do it or go home” are over Amen! Yet, owner operators and company drivers alike are paid by the mile and must make it on-time but also need rest to make it Safely also! Good Post Gentlemen!
Now if everybody did this it could be a decent job…I can’t think of any other place in America where it’s legal to actually require your employees and subordinates to Break The Law….
Somehow it seems to me that should be a violation of The RICO Laws and A Criminal Conspiracy???
Let’s just park our trucks for 3 day’s….. then they can fire 3 million drivers legally! Talk about putting the shoe on the other foot!
Won the settlement justifiably. But why would you want to go back to work for the same company? The damage is done. There’s never going to be a good working relationship between driver and company after this. We’ll see who he’s working for in a year.
This is good. But, it leaves me wondering why this gentleman would necessarily want to drive for these jerks again? Myself, I’d take the money and go elsewhere.
What amazes me about the trucking industry is that while there is such a shortage of truckers, the trucking companies and the government seem to be doing everything in their power to discourage “good” truckers from staying in the business. I’ve recently left to do other things. Can no longer stand the government “controlling just for the sake of controlling” or treatment I got from the company I worked for. Let’s just say …. I don’t “Think Red” anymore.
I would like to believe there is a truckers shortage. I might then be able to find work. Most people want to feed into this myth. But try looking for an owner operator position when your out of work. 30 years trucking no accidents or demerits and I have phoned many places to no returned calls. E mailed to no response. So believe the garbage and lies the government and carriers tell you about a non existing shortage. But in the end it will only
Hurt the honest drivers trying to make a living.
The driver shortage is simply this…
A shortage of drivers willing to work for less and put up with more than the driver that they had in that seat last…He is and always will be in demand..
Just as soon as they can they can hire him or her you are fired….
You’re exactly right. There are so many companies looking for Class A CDL drivers but only want to pay $12-$14 per hour, with little or no benefits! What’s more disturbing is that there are drivers willing to work for these wages! When I started driving in 1988, I was getting paid $12.50 per hour driving a straight truck!
well I think I should start a case aginst a company in texarcana,AR because I got fired and fined because I would not move my truck because I was out of hr and because I,i could not drive 984 miles in 48 hr I think the DOT should go check out all of that companys records and see what is up and see if there are any user manuals in the dash for the e-logs which is required by law the fines for that alone could generate thousands of dollars in revenue for the state alone
You couldnt drive 948 miles in 48 hrs? I can easily cover 700 in one 11-hr shift. Add a ten hour break and we’re upto 21 with only 248 miles to go. Thats 5-6 hours, putting us at 27. Add in fuel stops, restroom breaks, and going to the circus, and you still have plenty of time.
Half the reason companies wont pay more is cuz these guys out here cant get a load from A to B without dickin around. The longer a shipment is on a trailer, the less shipments that trailer is gonna haul in a week. Which means less revenue generated.
My company told me upon hire that id avg 2800 miles per week. I avg 3400 simply because i deliver many of my loads early or get in the area early enough to drop it for a city truck to take the last mile. Im not getting longer runs than anyone else, im just getting more loads in the same amount of time.
The companies that run their drivers like this should be reported to DOT as well. You know many of the drivers are running illegal or they just had it out for this one driver. If several are running illegal DOT could clean up house and shut the company down with an audit.
The article doesn’t say the driver is planning to stay with the company, it just says he was rehired and all references to his being fired were rescinded and he was paid all wages that he would’ve made had not been fired to begin with. That means that he can go and apply at any other job without having to explain ANYTHING. His record will show he was employed the entire time he was fighting this case, no gap between employment. We all know how FMCA requires a complete 10 year history of previous employment. Plus, the back pay wages amount implies he was out for over a year and many companies won’t hire you if you’ve been unemployed for so long.
SMART MOVE, GREAT LAWYERS!
Been driving trucks for over 40 yrs. I have made a good life for myself and family. Now you ad more government regs to the mix and the BIG companies basically saying that they will take someone anyone off the street and make them a class A CDL Driver in 3 weeks or less. They have trainers supposedly teaching these people how to be a Tractor Trailer driver when most of them should still be training themselves. And you wonder what’s wrong with the industry. OTR Trucking isnt just a job it’s a life style. It used to be a brother hood and we all looked out for one another. Anymore its a joke.ALL I CAN SAY IS GOD BLESS AMERICA AND GOD BLESS THE AMERICAN TRUCKER Because they both need his help