Four XPO drivers misclassified as independent contractors

The four drayage drivers working for XPO Cartage, a unit of XPO Logistics, were issued orders, decisions and awards in their favor amounting to $855,285.62.

   The California Labor Commissioner has found four drayage drivers working for XPO Cartage, a unit of XPO Logistics, were misclassified as independent contractors and has issued orders, decisions and awards (ODA’s) in their favor amounting to $855,285.62, according to a release issued by the Teamsters.
   The four drivers “join more than 300 misclassified port drivers for whom the Labor Commissioner’s office has issued determinations of misclassification,” the Teamsters said.
   The Teamsters also reported that XPO Logistics has appealed prior ODAs awarded by the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, and the courts have consistently upheld the California Labor Commissioner’s rulings that drivers are employees. “Additionally, in Los Angeles Superior Court, the ruling denying XPO’s petition to compel these four recent drivers’ cases to arbitration was based in part on finding sufficient evidence that the drivers were employees, not independent contractors,” the union said, adding how an appeal is currently pending.
   “The next step in the process is to have a full and fair trial in the California court system,” an XPO Logistics spokesperson said. “We know that the majority of owner-operators who serve our customers prefer to work as independent contractors and we will continue to advocate for their right to do so.”