A trucker has been awarded over a quarter of a million dollars after an investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration completed an investigation into the firing of the driver because he correctly rerouted a load through a different terminal.
The unnamed driver was tasked with carrying a load of Poland Spring bottled water for the New Jersey-based NFI Interactive Logistics Inc. On his drive up to Massachusetts, he encountered severe weather which put him behind schedule. Instead of trying to push through to his destination and risking running over his allowable hours of service, the driver instead called his carrier and asked if the load could be dropped at a different terminal nearby.
Both the carrier and the client agreed that the change was okay, but the next day, the driver was fired for insubordination even though arrangements had been made to get the load the rest of the way to its destination.
After he was fired, he filed a whistleblower complaint with OSHA, claiming that his carrier had fired him for refusing to haul a load which would put himself and others on the road at risk due to being over his legal driving hours.
OSHA sided with the driver and ordered NFI to pay him $126,870 in back wages and interest, $50,000 in compensatory damages for pain and suffering, and $100,000 in punitive damages, as well as paying for the driver’s attorney fees.
“This driver found a way to do his job and ensure motor carrier safety,” said Kim Stille, OSHA’s Boston-based New England regional administrator in a press release. “Rather than receiving credit for doing the right thing, he received a pink slip. The law is clear: drivers have the right to raise legitimate safety concerns to their employer — including refusing to violate safety regulations — without fear of termination or other retaliation. NFI must reverse its actions and compensate this driver for the financial and other losses he has suffered as a result of his illegal termination.”
Source: businessinsurance, courierpostonline, masslive
I would have done the same thing .
the company wants you to drive legal but when you do they ask you what the hell you’re doing.
Nfi needs to get that lesson many more times
Love it! Companies always claim they are safe and compliant with hos regulations… Until that hot load of freight “has got to be there” Love to see the drivers with the balls to strike back, kudos to that driver!
Because bottled water is not produced by many distributors.
Why not just pull over, let the hours expire, wait for the storm to blow over and then deliver the next day?
It is always, Safety Third.
Weiner got sued and the driver won because they would make the driver sit somewhere all day for free and claimed they didn’t have to pay hourly because it was a “safety function” that exemptions drivers from the far labor act. A federal judge basically found that over 10hrs isn’t considered a safety exception. It’s about time drivers explorer every legal avenue possible! I thuly believe if they could repeal the 13th amendment to turn us into actual slaves they would. So they go around it with thier unfair hourly wage exceptions and tell us to work for free when the rest of the country doesn’t.. I think there might be a 10th amendment issue here, I don’t see equal protection under the law?
That’s nfi they are as crooked as they come ,especially there waxahatie based terminal . I would suggest any company or owner operator driver steer clear of working for this company.
I think the younger newer drivers are smarter and quicker to lawyer up. If all drivers at big companies would organize, they would have more leverage.
Good for him. I hope this is the start of a trend…
Considering the impact it has on a driver’s career it’s good that frivolous firing is taken seriously—the company got what it deserved.
Would love to see a follow up on this story to see if the middle manager that did this was fired.
I love it, carriyers net to pay.
Well said everyone. I wonder if his trailer had a heater.
Okay, here one for you. I think I’m about to be fired for something similar. My company is monitoring speed through the People Net in my truck. They want me to slow.down in the only place I speed. The problem is that by slowing down to 55mph on the Borman Expressway (I-80/94) and I-294, I would be going 20 to 25 mph slower than the flow of traffic. That would put me at risk of causing an accident and exposing me and others around me to potential injury or death. All they tell me is that they are trying to improve their CSA scores and limit their liability in the event of an accident. They don’t seem to care much about actual safety. To top it off, the a$$hat I work for refused to have a driver do a drop and switch with me at one of our yards because he said that he wasn’t going to ask a driver to park somewhere that he couldn’t take a.shower and grab a hot meal…but it’s okay to kill me in the quest of an arbitrary government number.
So based on your own statement you are speeding and the company told you to slow down. Seems like you are the Safety Hazard.
I hate to say it, but if the posted is 20mph slower than you’re going then you, my friend, are speeding.
More often a company will give a wink and a nod to speed, (translation: don’t get caught) but if your company is actively telling you slow down, THEN DO IT!
What you want is to get rear ended by a 4 wheeler, with people net and your telematics saying you were safe & legal the whole time. Then you can sue the 4wheeler for,,, something.
Consider the reverse?
Need the lawyers name that sued.
Paul Taylor, Truckers Justice Center.
If you are driving 25 mph over the speed limit I’d fire you too.
Please don’t apply over here.
I’d love to know who in NFI made that call (to fire the guy), even assuming NFI is an up&up outfit (hahahahah aha, sorry, I TRIED to say that with a straight face) you know somebody’s going to get burned for costing corporate a quarter million.
Have fun out there truckers your hard work and performce is under appreciated $$ talks it’s sad ignorance is no excuse to not knowing the laws .One day I got 30 VS A points alone and before that day had none was under the weather and blood pressure was high not on medication and am good shape exercise daily and eat my vegetables 3 years from the date of the incident to be non existent I am only human keep up the good job and remember be under the weather at home peace and blessings
Having to reroute loads happens all the time, this is normal business. Accidents ahead, slow unloading and so on is routine for the driver, that was his only legal, smart option. Mention safety on your QualCom anytime something like this happens and you are covered. Why would this type of bad publicity be wanted by any carrier?
Life would be easier for everyone out here if more drivers would stand up to this crap.