$1M Settlement Reached in FedEx Wage Class Action

FedEx Freight Inc. has reached a $1 million class action lawsuit settlement with pickup and delivery drivers who claim that the shipping company didn’t pay them overtime or minimum wage and that they were denied meal and rest breaks, according to documents filed in California federal court Monday.

Eugene Chavez, the class representative, worked as a pickup and delivery driver for FedEx and its predecessor, Viking Transportation, for 20 years in San Bernardino, California, at a terminal location there. Chavez claims that during that time FedEx either did not provide employees with sufficient meal breaks or it did not compensate its employees with additional wages if a meal break was missed, as required by law.

The wage and hour lawsuit makes the same claim for rest breaks — that FedEx drivers either did not receive their rest break nor were they compensated if it was missed. Chavez filed his wage and hour lawsuit in a San Bernardino County Superior Court in August 2012. The lawsuit was moved to the Central District of California in September 2012.

The putative class is made up of current and former nonexempt and hourly paid FedEx employees who worked for FedEx Freight in California from July 24, 2009 to April 9, 2013.

The $1.025 million class action settlement will be divided between the 1,514 Class Members ($718,000), attorneys’ fees ($256,000), the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency ($3,750), settlement administration costs ($24,000), and a class representative enhancement payment to Chavez ($5,000).

The class action settlement was agreed upon after the lawyers representing FedEx and Chavez analyzed data and records of a random sampling from 20 percent of the employees working for FedEx. The company then provided additional wage and hour records of those employees and documentation of its meal and rest break policies, according to court documents.

The case is Eugene Chavez v. FedEx Freight Inc., Case No. 12-cv-01496, in the U.S. District Court of the Central District of California.

If you did not receive all the money you earned through unpaid overtime or other wage violations, legal options are available to you. Learn more and get a free consultation regarding a claim’s eligibility at the Wage & Hour Unpaid Overtime Class Action Lawsuit Investigation. Experienced employment attorneys are able to determine if you have a case. You could receive back pay as well as penalties, so act now.