A North Carolina judge has decertified a class action lawsuit against CEVA Freight. The suit alleged the trucking company was underpaying some 2,000 drivers across the nation.
U.S. District Court Judge Frank D. Whitney had certified the class in January 2011, but depositions taken since then show that many of the drivers negotiated individual contracts with the carrier. Whitney cited the Supreme Court decision in Wal-Mart vs. Dukes in his decision to decertify the class because it lacked the commonality necessary for a class-action suit, according to a Business and Management Daily report.
Unless the drivers’ attorneys can win certification on appeal, the individual drivers will have to pursue remedies individually. As a practical matter, many will not because their individual circumstances will not entice a lawyer to represent them, the report explained.
CEVA was formed in August 2007 as a result of the merger of TNT Logistics and EGL Eagle Global Logistics and is one of the world’s leading logistics companies, providing end-to-end design, implementation and operational capabilities in freight forwarding, contract logistics, transportation management and distribution management.
