A federal court has concluded Walmart violated California law by not paying truck drivers at least minimum wage for all the time they worked.
The company could owe as much as $100 million in backpay, according to the law firm representing the driver plaintiffs.
Federal court rules against Walmart in driver pay lawsuitSan Francisco’s Senior District Judge Susan Illston ruled May 28 that the Arkansas-based company’s per-mile and discretionary pay for work such as inspections and paperwork did not comply with state law minimum wage requirements.
The company could not immediately be reached for comment and information on case’s next steps was not immediately available.
The court also noted Walmart exercised control over truckers during federally mandated rest periods, but its $42 allocation to truckers per layover averages out to less than paying minimum wage, Illston stated.
Last September, the court granted the case class-action certification for more than 500 drivers employed between 1993 and the present. They originally filed the case in Alameda County Superior Court in 2008, before Walmart had it moved to federal court.
