Litigators who took on “gig economy” companies and other employers for misclassifying Massachusetts delivery drivers as independent contractors successfully earned final approval of a nearly $800,000 settlement.
Attorneys with the Boston-based labor and employment firm Lichten & Liss-Riordan, among others, brought the class action suit on behalf of more than 45 drivers who claimed Cardinal Logistics Management Corp. wrongfully took certain expenses for damaged items, uniforms, and insurance from their paychecks. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley of the District of Massachusetts approved the $795,000 settlement in Roland v. Cardinal Logistics Management Corp.
Following an exchange of hundreds of pages of documents and large data files, the parties participated in two mediation sessions with Mark Irvings, which resulted in the settlement in June. The plaintiffs filed for preliminary approval of the agreement in July, and the final approval hearing was held before Kelley on Oct. 31.
The trio of attorneys representing the plaintiffs, including Harold L. Lichten and Olena Savytska of Lichten & Liss-Riordan and solo practitioner James W. Simpson, Jr., were awarded $265,000, or one-third of the settlement amount. Approximately $480,000 will be distributed to the settlement class members, and the five named plaintiffs will each receive a $10,000 service award.
“We think this is a very favorable resolution of misclassification and deduction claims under the Massachusetts Wage Act, which provides significant relief to the 47 class members involved,” Savytska told Law.com.
The maximum share is nearly $55,000, while the average share is just shy of $12,000, according to the plaintiffs’ attorneys.
Drivers Frederic Roland and Jose Antonio Ramos Lima, who made furniture deliveries, were among the first to file the complaint in July 2023. They alleged that from the fall of 2022 through the spring 2023, Cardinal required its drivers to pay for fuel costs, vehicle maintenance costs, among other expenses. If damaged goods were delivered to a customer, the plaintiffs alleged the costs would be deducted from the driver’s paycheck.
Lichten, who served as the plaintiffs’ lead attorney, has litigated several landmark independent contractor misclassification suits and represented hundreds of FedEx drivers in similar cases across New England. The firm has also led litigation against 7-Eleven franchisee operators and UberBlack drivers who claim they were also misclassified. Similarly, Simpson has litigated, tried, and settled wage-and-hour cases in Massachusetts since 2007.
Andrew J. Fay of the Fay Law Group in Boston, who represented the delivery company, did not immediately return a message seeking comment.