In a wage and hour case defended by McManis Faulkner’s Employment Team, the Labor Commissioner ruled that our client owed nothing to a former employee (Plaintiff) who claimed that he was owed over $100,000 in unpaid wages and penalties.
Our client runs a tree care business for which Plaintiff worked as a driver, among various other roles throughout his long career with the company. Plaintiff drove a company truck from home to jobsites and back home again. Other crew members voluntarily carpooled with Plaintiff in the truck each day. Plaintiff claimed that he was not paid for all of his overtime, which included travel time in the company truck to and from jobsites.
McManis Faulkner successfully argued that Plaintiff was not legally entitled to the paid travel time because it constituted “ordinary commute time.” Despite this showing, the Labor Commissioner nonetheless found that the pay records reflected Plaintiff was paid for his travel time, even though at times our client had to estimate Plaintiff’s commute time because Plaintiff claimed it was “too difficult” to accurately and timely submit his timecards. Ultimately, after hearing the testimony of witnesses during the hearing and reviewing the records in detail, the Labor Commissioner ruled that Plaintiff had been properly paid for all hours worked and that our client owed him zero dollars in wages and penalties.