Trucker Overtime Pay Cases

The law firm of Bendich, Stobaugh & Strong has filed a class action lawsuit against Interstate Distributor Co., an international trucking company headquartered in Tacoma, alleging that it has unlawfully failed to pay overtime wages to its interstate drivers. Plaintiff Larry Westberry, a former long-term employee of Interstate Distributor, claims that the company, which pays its employees by the mile rather than by the hour, broke state law by paying him same amount per mile even when he worked more than forty hours a week. According to Stephen Strong, a partner at Bendich Stobaugh & Strong, Washington-based employers are required to pay their employees one-and-a-half times their regular rate of pay when they work more than forty hours per week, even if the work is performed out of state. The lawsuit seeks to obtain back pay for all of Interstate Distributor's truck drivers who worked overtime but weren't paid time-and-a-half.

The suit derives from a 2007 decision by the Washington State Supreme Court awarding back pay to a truck driver whose employer failed to pay him overtime even though he averaged 48 hours of work per week, including time clocked out of state. That case, Bostain v. Food Express Inc., shocked the Washington trucking industry, which mounted a vigorous though unsuccessful effort to have it overturned by the US Supreme Court.

Former Washington Supreme Court Justice Philip Talmadge, now an attorney in private practice, represented the trucking companies. In a petition asking the US Supreme Court to review the Bostain decision, Talmadge described the far-reaching impact of the case. "The decision of the Washington Supreme Court strikes to the heart of the national trucking industry, disrupting how that industry handles interstate truck drivers. *** Washington's expansive interpretation of its overtime wage law will likely compel motor carriers to restrict the hours of interstate truck drivers, alter their routes to avoid exposure to overtime wage claims, and perhaps to move their operations from Washington." (Petition for Certiorari). Talmadge also argued that each state "has a presumptive claim that its [overtime pay] law should apply to the portion of [a truck driver's] trip occurring within its borders." These arguments did not sway the Supreme Court, and in the fall of 2007 it formally declined to accept the case for review.

According to Strong, "The bottom line is that state law requires Washington-based employers to pay their employees overtime regardless of whether the work is performed in state or out of state. If this were not true, then long-haul truckers would rarely if ever receive overtime no matter how many hours they worked, because there is no state which cannot be crossed in less than 40 hours. The purpose of this suit is to make sure that all the truck drivers who worked overtime receive the compensation they are due." Strong, whose firm has handled many high- profile employment cases, including a class action against Microsoft that obtained $97 million for so-called "permatemps," also asserts that enforcing Washington's overtime pay law will likely result in safer driving conditions for everyone because employers will be less likely to require their drivers to remain on the road for an unreasonable length of time.

If you are a long-haul trucker employed by a Interstate Distributor or any other Washington-based trucking company, and your employer is not paying you overtime, contact Bendich Stobaugh & Strong for a free evaluation of your potential claim. Bear in mind that there is no attorney-client relationship, nor any duty to act, until a written retainer agreement is signed by both the attorney and the client.

PRESS COVERAGE:

Tacoma News Tribune, June 3, 2008: Tacoma-based trucking company sued for overtime  

Seattle Post-Intelligencer, June 2, 2008: Trucking company is accused of failing to pay overtime