Werner Enterprises has been ordered to pay approximately $780,000 for underpaying student drivers.
A class action lawsuit, which represented over 50,000 drivers who participated in Werner’s training program between 2008 and 2014, alleged that the carrier failed to pay trainees for all “on duty” hours.
The students, who were to be paid $7.25 per hour, claim that the carrier regularly miscalculated hours and marked payable 20-minute “on duty” breaks as “off duty” time. The incorrect time calculations caused students to be paid below minimum wage, the lawsuit alleged.
A federal grand jury in Nebraska sided with the student drivers after three days of deliberation. On May 24th jurors reached a verdict of $779,127, to be paid to the group of more than 50,000 former students.
In a statement Werner said they have “fixed the mistake in its payroll program” that led to the incorrect time logging.