Hall v. U.S. Cargo & Courier Serv., LLC.

299 F. Supp. 3d 888
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Ohio
DecidedMarch 9, 2018
DocketCase No. 2:16–cv–330
StatusPublished
Cited by46 cases

This text of 299 F. Supp. 3d 888 (Hall v. U.S. Cargo & Courier Serv., LLC.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hall v. U.S. Cargo & Courier Serv., LLC., 299 F. Supp. 3d 888 (S.D. Ohio 2018).

Opinion

EDMUND A. SARGUS, JR., CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

This matter is before the Court for consideration of Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs' class and collective claims (ECF No. 43) and Plaintiffs' Motion for Conditional Certification, pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"), 29 U.S.C. § 216(b). (ECF No. 43.) Both motions are opposed. Plaintiffs bring their claims based on their purported misclassification as independent contractors. For the following reasons, Defendant's Motion to Dismiss is DENIED and Plaintiffs' Motion for Conditional Certification of their FLSA Claim is GRANTED subject to conditions outlined within this Opinion and Order.

I.

Plaintiffs David Hall ("Hall"), Dustin Bryan ("Bryan"), and Nicholas Thompson ("Thompson" collectively, "Plaintiffs") bring suit under the FLSA on behalf of a purported class of similarly situated individuals. Plaintiffs are former contract delivery drivers for Defendant, U.S. Cargo and Courier Service, LLC ("U.S. Cargo"). As a condition of employment all U.S. Cargo drivers are required to sign a form contract entitled "Independent Contractor Agreement" ("Agreement").

Hall worked as a delivery driver for U.S, Cargo from approximately June 20, 2012 to approximately July 24, 2015. (Second Amen. Compl. ¶ 27.) Over the course of that time period, Hall signed two Agreements, one as an individual and one as an LLC by the name MD Freight. (Id. 28.) Defendant paid Hall a daily flat rate of approximately $179.00 regardless of hours worked, $3.00 per stop, and a $0.75 bonus per piece if he delivered more than three pieces per stop. (Id. ¶ 29.) While a driver, Hall asserts he regularly worked five days per week for approximately ten to twelve hours per day. (Id. ¶ 31.)

Defendant paid Bryan an unspecified flat daily rate and $3,00 per stop, regardless of how-many hours he worked. (Id.

*892¶ 33.) Bryan asserts that he typically worked five days a week for at least fifty hours per week and often worked up to seventy hours per week.

Thompson worked as a delivery driver for Defendant from July 2013 to September 2014. Defendant paid Thompson a flat daily rate and $3.00 per stop, regardless of the hours he worked. (Id. ¶ 37.) Thompson asserts he typically worked five days a week for approximately sixty hours per week and up to sixty-seven and one-half hours per week. (Id. ¶ 39.)

All three named Plaintiffs signed Agreements with U.S. Cargo. In the Agreements, they waived their right to proceed on a class action basis for any disputes arising from the substance of said Agreements. (See Def.'s Exhibits A ¶ 18, B ¶ 18, and C ¶ 18.) The Agreements each state that Plaintiffs agree to "waive all rights to a jury trial, or certification of a class action" with regard to disputes arising from the Agreement. (See Def.'s Exhibits A-C.)

II. MOTION TO DISMISS

Defendant moves to dismiss Plaintiffs' putative class and collective action claims as contained in the Second Amended Complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) provides for dismissal of actions that fail to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). Such an action will be dismissed where "there is no law to support the claims made" or where "the facts alleged are insufficient to state a claim." Stew Farm, Ltd. v. Natural Res. Conservation Serv., 967 F.Supp.2d 1164, 1169 (S.D. Ohio 2013) (citing Rauch v. Day & Night Mfg. Corp., 576 F.2d 697, 702 (6th Cir. 1978) ). When considering a motion to dismiss, a court must construe the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff and accept all of the complaint's well-pleaded factual allegations as true. Grindstaff v. Green, 133 F.3d 416, 421 (6th Cir. 1998).1

Defendants move to dismiss Plaintiffs' collective and class claims based on the independent contractor agreement Plaintiffs' signed. Specifically, Defendant argues that the class and collective action claims must be dismissed because "Plaintiffs waived their rights to proceed in a class or collective fashion" by signing a waiver in the Agreement and because "Plaintiffs are inadequate representatives of the purported class and collective." (Mot. Dismiss at 1, ECF No. 43.) In the most recent contracts, Plaintiffs and U.S. Cargo agreed to the following:

Venue: Any dispute or interpretation arising out of or pursuant to this Agreement shall be the subject of a lawsuit filed in Franklin County, Ohio. The Parties expressly agree to subject themselves to personal jurisdiction in any such court, and to accept service of process by certified mail. The parties further agree to waive all rights to a jury trial, or certification of a class action, in conjunction with any such lawsuit.

(Exhibit A ¶ 18, Exhibit B ¶ 18, Exhibit C ¶ 1 8 (emphasis added).) The Court disagrees.

Although the contracts purportedly waive Plaintiffs' rights to "certification of a class action," the Sixth Circuit has determined that class waivers without an arbitration provision are not valid. Killion v. KeHE Distributors, LLC, 761 F.3d 574, 592 (6th Cir. 2014), cert denied , --- U.S. ----, 135 S.Ct. 1745, 191 L.Ed.2d 703 (2015). In Killion , a number of KeHE

*893employees were discharged, four of whom sued, claiming KeHE misclassified them as exempt from the ELSA and failed to pay them overtime. Id. at 577. The plaintiffs sought to certify the suit as a collective action. Id. KeHE argued in opposition that the vast majority of the discharged employees signed severance agreements which included waivers of the employees' rights to participate in an FLSA collective action. Id.

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Bluebook (online)
299 F. Supp. 3d 888, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hall-v-us-cargo-courier-serv-llc-ohsd-2018.