United States District Court of Nebraska
Docket No.:12-408
Counsel: Justin Swidler, Richard Swartz
Six over-the-road truck drivers employed by Werner Enterprises, Inc. and Drivers Management, LLC (collectively “Werner”) filed a federal lawsuit against Werner asserting that Werner violated federal and state Wage and Hour Laws related to its per diem program. On May 12, 2014, the Court certified this matter as a class and collective action on behalf of more than 50,000 drivers who worked for Werner from November of 2008 to the present. Any person who worked for Werner during that time frame in an eligible class member and may join the federal collective action by submitting a Consent Form below. The deadline to submit a consent form was January 22, 2015.
The claims being asserted in this lawsuit are distinct from the claims being made in the Student Driver collective action. Filing a Consent Form in this action does not opt you in to the Student Driver lawsuit. You may be eligible for both lawsuits, in which case, if you wish to join both lawsuits, you must submit a Consent Form for each case.
Unfortunately, the time to join this lawsuit has passed.
The lawsuit asserts that Werner improperly utilized per diem payments as a credit against wages due under the law. Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that Werner reduced its drivers’ pay by an amount equivalent to a per diem reimbursement payment provided to drivers. The per diem reimbursement, however, was not provided as compensation for services performed, but was instead provided to pay for meals and other incidental expenses that drivers are required to incur as a result of being required to remain over-the-road for days, weeks, or even months at a time while working for Werner.
2017 Update
The lower court awarded summary judgment to Werner, holding that the per diem payments constituted wages. That decision is currently pending appeal before the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. We would anticipate a decision from the appeals court sometime in 2018. We will provide an update once the appeal has been decided.
The deadline to join this case has passed.