Drivers' Lawyers Announce Mailing of Class Notice

(Full text taken from June 24, 2008 press release issued by the Leonard Carder law firm.)

NOTE: Neither the Teamsters nor any affiliated local union are parties to this class action lawsuit.  Full details of the proceedings can be found here .  The recently released plaintiff's expert report (see the Wood Report) is a critical document for all interested in this case.

SOUTH BEND, Ind., June 24—A key milestone in one of America's most watched labor-and-employment cases unfolds this week as 27,165 past and present FedEx Ground/Home Delivery drivers across the U.S. begin receiving the official Class Notice in the multi-district litigation challenging the company's controversial independent contractor model. The Class Notice, approved by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, is being mailed beginning tomorrow, Wednesday, June 25th.

Lynn Rossman Faris, co-lead counsel for the drivers, says the content of the Class Notice was the subject of some dispute, ultimately resolved by the Court. "We are pleased that the Notice includes an explanation that drivers are protected from retaliation for participating in the case and that FedEx is specifically "prohibited by law from asking or telling you [the drivers] to exclude yourself from this action, or even from expressing an opinion as to whether it is or is not in your best interest to remain a class member or exclude yourself from this action." This means that FedEx cannot and should not try to influence the drivers and if the company does so, it will be violating the Court's warning.

The Notice tells the drivers that they can stay in the lawsuit by taking no action or they can opt-out of the case and retain their individual right to sue separately, but if they do opt-out, they would not participate if the case results in an award or settlement. While the Notice is initially being mailed to drivers represented in the nationwide federal ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974) and Kansas matters, Faris said that an additional 19 statewide class notices are expected to be mailed out within the next week. Additional notices may follow if the court grants certification in any of the nine other state cases where class certification motions are pending, or in four other states where Plaintiffs will file for class certification this summer.

Drivers in the nine states where the Court denied class certification are joining those cases rather than lose out on the chance to obtain money damages. The court on June 23 ruled that the complaints in those nine cases can be amended to add other drivers individually up to September 30th.

In a related case, Anfinson v. FedEx Ground, the state court in Seattle, Washington has set a trial date in October, the first set for trial following the original California-FedEx Ground/Home Delivery court case (Estrada) where drivers were found to be employees. Class notice was sent to about 348 drivers in Washington. "We are very encouraged that in the Washington state case more than 92% of the drivers who got notice have stayed in the case as class members," said Rossman Faris. "This debunks the FedEx myth that the vast majority of drivers believe they are independent contractors and do not want the legal protections the law provides to employees," she said. For those with questions about the Notice, the lawyers for the drivers have established a special information website, www.fedexclassactionlawsuit.com.

Besides the litigation in state and federal courts, the Internal Revenue Service has also tentatively determined that the driver-contractors at FedEx Ground should be reclassified as employees and that the company owes more than $319 million in back taxes and penalties for just one year, 2002. FedEx executives last week told stock analysts that the company has been meeting with the IRS about the 2002 audit. The IRS is also auditing the company's books for 2004 through 2006.