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After driver Christopher Midgett bought a truck in 2015 from a subsidiary of Werner Enterprises with about 380,000 miles on it, he ended up with expensive repair and maintenance costs that drained his wages.
According to a class action complaint filed in 2018Werner misclassified drivers as independent contractors and improperly had trucking expenses deducted from wages. The case is finally involved nearly 200 drivers connected to the carrier.
The suit alleged that Werner passed on “overhead costs to his employees,” violated the minimum wage law and unloaded “his aging fleet of trucks on his unsuspecting employees.”
Werner denied the allegations in court documents, but the Nebraska-based carrier also acknowledged that owner-operators paid for repairs, maintenance and other expenses. The Carrier he continues to refuse the allegations, according to a settlement agreement filed in November 2022.
Senior US Judge Joseph Batallon gave preliminary approval in February and final approval in June for $750,000 settlement with drivers that are excluded of Midgett claims. The agreement allowed current and former employees to take settlement awards of $100 to $10,000;
The five years old litigation concluded last month between Midgett and the carrier reached an agreementby joint filing on November 13. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
Midgett initially served as the lead plaintiff in the class action, but later pursued the matter separately from the class settlement. He he worked as a driver at the location until 2019, according to an amended complaint.