Amazon Flex lawsuit over worker misclassification seeks class certification

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Amazon Flex lawsuit overview:

  • Who: Amazon Flex drivers urged a judge to certify their class action lawsuit against their employer.
  • Why: The drivers allege that they are misclassified as independent contractors, costing them wages and benefits.
  • Where: The case was filed in Washington federal court.

A group of Amazon Flex drivers are urging a judge to grant them class action certification in a lawsuit filed against their employer alleging they are wrongly classified as independent contractors.

In a motion filed June 30 in a Washington federal court, the drivers told US District Judge John C. Coughenour that now that the US Supreme Court has decided two cases adjacent to the dispute, their case should be certified.

The class action lawsuit against Amazon.com Inc. and Amazon Logistics Inc. had been stayed while the Supreme Court considered two other lawsuits concerning the application of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). Both cases have since been heard and could have implications for whether the case is allowed to escape arbitration.

In one of the cases, the high court found that a Chicago ramp agent supervisor is not obligated to arbitrate her wage and hour claims against Southwest Airlines after finding that she is exempt under Section 1 of the FAA.

In the other case, the justices found that a former sales representative for Viking River Cruises couldn’t shield her claims from arbitration under the California Private Attorneys General Act because the law undermined the FAA.

Amazon Flex lawsuit alleges employees missed out on pay, benefits

The drivers allege they were all subjected to policies that led to their misclassification as independent contractors, not employees, which then caused them to miss out on pay and benefits.

“Cases challenging workers’ misclassification as independent contractors have been routinely certified as class actions, and certification is appropriate here,” the drivers said in the Amazon Flex lawsuit.

In the filing, the workers said they meet all the requirements to secure class certification and that there were thousands of Flex drivers across the country who could be represented by the case.

In 2016, three drivers who have made deliveries on contract for Amazon.com filed a class action lawsuit saying they should be considered employees not independent contractors.

What do you think of the allegations in the Amazon Flex lawsuit? Let us know in the comments!

The workers are represented by Shannon Liss-Riordan, Harold Lichten and Adelaide Pagano of Lichten & Liss-Riordan PC and Michael C. Subit of Frank Freed Subit & Thomas LLP.

the Amazon Flex law suit is Rittmann et al. v. Amazon.com Inc. et al., case no. 2:16-cv-01554, in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington.

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