It turns out that my jubilation over the end of the OOIDA v. C.R. England battle was a little premature. In a move that shocked absolutely no one (myself included), C.R. England has appealed the judgment issued by Judge Ted Stewart of the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah which awarded more than $1.3 million to members of a class action lawsuit brought by OOIDA.
The “final judgment” was issued on March 12th. On April 5th, CRE filed its appeal. Not to be outdone, this week OOIDA filed a cross-appeal, which would increase the amount of money that C.R. England has to pay.
According to Landline, the cross-appeal will address issues such as “the court’s denial of a statutory trust for escrow funds, its rejection of the 18 percent interest rate for escrow funds unlawfully retained by England, and the court’s refusal to award restitution for England’s markups on tires, parts and fuel.”
David Cohen, an attorney with The Cullen Law Firm who is serving as OOIDA’s litigation counsel, stated that CRE’s appeal will prevent the members of the class action suit from receiving any payments until the matter is settled. This means that the approximately 1,000 people who are entitled to receive a cash award, people who have waited for over a decade, will have to keep on waiting.
The appeal process will reportedly take anywhere from a year to 18 months to complete. So, given the way things have been going so far, the class action members can probably expect to see their money in 2020.
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Way to go OOIDA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Its sad that CRE wont just pay up. I have to see all these newbies they hire where I live in Richmond , In. I try amd tell these newbie s how much they are making a bad move but seems to fall on deaf ears till they see it for themselves
Does England not realize that the whole trucking industry knows what kind of business they run. England, Prime, TransAm all have similar lease agreements. How could anyone in their right mind think that the deal they give to drivers is a good deal? They prey on student drivers and drivers that just don’t know any better. I know with TransAm, after all your fixed expenses are paid for, after your fuel is paid for and all you’re left with is a paycheck with a negative balance, TransAm will then charge you 2% interest on that negative balance putting you even farther into the hole on next week’s check! That company has lost it’s business ethics.
You know there is a LAW called the slave pay act. Check it out
There should really be a requirement that once you lose a case (or an appeal), you have to put the money that you owe in a third-party escrow account for the victims. If CR England’s money were already out of CR England’s hands, they might be less inclined to file frivolous appeals. Moreover, there should be a price to be paid for filing groundless appeals, to dissuade this sort of delay tactic. Perhaps, if CR England’s penalty tripled with each failed appeal (and they had to put this amount in escrow, each time that they failed in an appeal), the pain imposed upon CR England might be sufficient to dissuade them from imposing the of pain of these delay tactics upon the victims.
Seriously; there is no question that CR England uses it’s position in the industry and it’s financial stature to beat up the drivers that they recruit into the industry – it’s like an initiation rite, nowadays, that if you want to be a truck driver, you have to go through at least one bankruptcy and divorce, working for a “training company”, to get your spirit broken, before you’re allowed to earn a living that is only adequate for a single person living in their truck. CR England sets the standard that other “training companies” aspire to – they make that a point of pride, in their literature. It’s not as though their reputation isn’t well-understood… Can’t the court at least summarily deny their appeals? Haven’t they established, yet, that this is an abuse of the legal system, designed simply to delay the obvious and undeniable outcome? Maybe what needs to happen is that OOIDA needs to tie CR England up in endless court proceedings – perhaps each case should be tried individually, instead of as a class action – and each should seek a few million in damages. Make it hurt CR England, the way CR England makes it hurt the drivers…
Oh! Oh! How about seeking an injunction, requiring CR England to place a disclaimer on all training and recruitment literature… Something like: “Warning: This company has been in litigation over mishandling of driver’s money for the past ten years.” That might take a bite out of their ability to continue making money at what they do – and *that* might be reason enough for them to just pay the settlement… 🙂
they should have to pay a % if there net worth. They won’t even notice this amount is gone when they finally have to pay.
I wonder whats gone happen when it comes out they are forcing students to lie on their 7 day prior forms about hours worked..since ive been here it has been one lie after another sooner or later they wont have anybody to drive for them they are already the butt of all jokes of pro drivers
I spent a 1 1/2 working with the Govt at CRE to prove govt fraud. Hold on to your hats the fat lady has not sang yet.
They need to be investigated by FMCSA..
1. CRE training is insufficient – re: numbers of accidents their students are involved in.
2. CRE Operating illegally re: dispatching team load schedules with student drivers in trainer’s trucks. These trucks run continuously, where they should only be running 11 hr shifts. When student is driving, instructor has to be in front seat next to student, not in the sleeper berth.
3. CRE Dispatch Negligence – re: setting drivers up to fail. Loads dispatched irresponsibly during inclement weather conditions. Loads irresponsibly dispatched requiring more hours than are available, drivers receive HOS violations.
I became a trainer/driver for C. R. And decided I didn’t won’t to wake up DEAD😇 after observing there instructors teaching methods😮students know very little after completing courses. And dispatcher of mid-west was a joke 😵tried putting 5 loads on me at once. In attempts to get me to quit, because i constantly refused to train for company after 3 months i was terminated👏🙏 and very unsafe Equipment,,