We are happy to announce that on August 13, 2018, the State of New Jersey and the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development jointly filed a brief with the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in support of drivers represented by Winebrake & Santillo and co-counsel Lichten & Liss-Riordan.
The drivers allege that they were improperly classified as non-employee “independent contractors” and thus were not paid overtime premium compensation and were subject to improper deductions to their compensation.
The appeal is in a case titled Bedoya, et al. v. American Eagle Express, Inc. and concerns whether New Jersey’s “ABC” test to determine whether an individual is an “employee” under the New Jersey wage and hour laws is preempted by the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (FAAAA). The federal district judge held that it was not. The company sought an appeal and the issue is now before the Third Circuit.
New Jersey’s support of the drivers’ position is yet another example of the crackdown on independent contractor misclassification in the State. In May of this year, Governor Murphy signed an executive order establishing the Task Force on Employee Misclassification.