TRAVELING technicians obtain over $8 million settlement for unpaid work time
Lojack Corporation manufactures vehicle-tracking systems. Its technicians install and repair alarm and tracking systems for its clients. These installations and repairs are generally done at the clients’ locations. Technicians are required to travel to the job-sites in company-owned vehicles. They are paid hourly beginning when they arrived at their first job location and ending when they complete their final task for the day.
During the technician’ commute time on company vehicles, they could not stop for personal errands, take passengers, or use their cell phones (except to answer calls from company dispatchers). They were required to drive the vehicle directly from home to work site and back. Lojack’s computerized scheduling system dictated the technicians’ first assignment of the day and the order in which the tasks were to be completed. The technicians were also expected to repair and maintain the company’s vehicles on their own time and money, with no compensation.
In 2006, the technicians filed a lawsuit against LoJack, claiming that LoJack failed to pay them for all hours worked under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and California state law. These hours included hours spent commuting while being under the control of LoJack, and hours spent performing tasks outside their shift for LoJack’s benefit. They also sought to recover payment for meal and rest breaks that were not provided.
Ordinarily, the law does not require that employees be paid for commute time. However, California law requires that employees be compensated for all time during which an employee is subject to the control of the employer. If, during the commute time, the employee is really “subject to the control of the employer” then the employee must be paid for this commute time.
Since the technicians were required to drive the Lojack vehicle to and from the job site, and while driving, were also forbidden from attending to any personal business along the way, the technicians were under Lojack’s control during the drive to the first Lojack job of the day and on the way home at the end of the day. Thus, they were entitled to be paid additional wages.
Rather than proceed to trial and potentially spend up to $30 million in damages and attorneys’ fees, LoJack opted to settle the technicians’ class action claims for $8.1 million. This settlement was preliminarily approved by the Los Angeles Superior Court early this month.
There are other employees who travel from their homes to employer-assigned locations, using company-owned vehicles. These employees include couriers, drivers, messengers, appliance and cable technicians, and other service representatives. Their commute times may equally be subject to control as in the case of the Lojack technicians.
Additionally, these employees may have no relievers at the time they work and may thus be not provided their legally mandated meal and rest periods. Or these employees may perform work-related activities outside their scheduled shifts, such as filing reports or maintaining company-provided tools and equipment. Our firm has helped a good number of couriers, service representatives and technicians recover additional wages for travel time and other off-the-clock work that were not paid by employers.
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C. Joe Sayas, Jr., Esq. is an experienced trial attorney who has successfully obtained significant results, including several million dollar recoveries for consumers against insurance companies and big business. He is a member of the Million Dollar-Advocates Forum-a prestigious group of trial lawyers whose membership is limited to those who have demonstrated exceptional skill, experience and excellence in advocacy. He has been featured in the cover of Los Angeles Daily Journal’s Verdicts and Settlements for his professional accomplishments and recipient of numerous awards from community and media organizations. His litigation practice concentrates in the following areas: serious personal injuries, wrongful death, insurance claims, unfair business practices, wage and hour (overtime) litigation. You can visit his website at www.joesayas law.com or contact his office by telephone at (818) 291-0088.