C. R. England faces Class Action Lawsuit
Lawsuit against C. R. England
From papers served on July 30th, 2010, a class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court, Central District of California, on September 1st, 2010 against trucking firm, C. R. England. The suit, Case No. 08-CV-05266-GW (CWx), was filed through the law firm of Van Vleck Turner & Zaller LLP, which specializes in labor and employment law.
The suit alleges that C. R. England :
- Failed to provide meal breaks or premium compensation for missed meal breaks
- Failed to provide rest breaks or premium compensation for missed rest breaks
- Failed to provide accurate itemized wage statements
- Withheld unauthorized deductions from earned wages
- Failed to pay all accrued vacation
- Failed to timely pay final wages
The class action suit, brought on by former and current employees, Barrette Jasper and Darrin Cook, also states that a jury trial is demanded and are seeking the following:
- For compensatory damages, in an amount according to proof
- For all statutory penalties authorized by law
- For restitution of all wrongfully withheld amounts and disgorgement of all ill-gotten profits, in an amount according to proof
- For a declaration that Defendants have engaged in unfair competition in violation of the California Unfair Competition Law, Business and Professions Code section 17200 et seq.
- For preliminary and permanent injunctive relief requiring Defendants to cease and desist from further unfair competition and violations of law and to make restitution to those injured by its prior course of illegal wrongful conduct
- For prejudgement interest on all amounts owed
- For attorney fees and costs pursuant to all applicable provisions of law
- For such other and further relief the court deems just and proper
For a full disclosure of the suit, you can read the C. R. England Lawsuit PDF . . .
* Special thanks to Mike F. for his contribution to this story. *
© 2010, Allen Smith. All rights reserved.
Tagged with: C. R. England • california • class action • employment law • labor laws • lawsuit • trucking
Filed under: trucking • trucking companies
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Man. I hate to see this kind of thing. I am a supporter of truckers rights, but I hate to see what the outcome is. Although maybe not at the federal or state level, this case will bring further regulation including internal regulation.
The result will continue to be more invasive company policies and procedures with more invasion into everyday operation of our livelihood.
Ultimately, this will put more pressure on company drivers to consider obtaining their own authority where they will not have to deal with mandatory policies and procedures.
In the end, the industry is damaged by these cases where ultimately England is being sued because a small few people were too stupid to pull off the road to take a leak. Grrr.
One thing about this particular case, is that it largely has to do with California law. Most states do not have any laws concerning pay for meal breaks or rest breaks, specifically for local drivers. California does, therefore, this case is largely partial to the laws of California.
http://www.askthetrucker.com/state-labor-laws-decide-paid-meal-breaks-for-truck-drivers/
Also, the suit is not only about stopping for a break … it also alleges that C. R. England :
1. Failed to provide accurate itemized wage statements
2. Withheld unauthorized deductions from earned wages
3. Failed to pay all accrued vacation
4. Failed to timely pay final wages
I don’t think we can always place the blame on drivers. Truck drivers should stand up for their rights more. That is why we have employee rights in this country.
To be equally pragmatic, drivers should use their heads, too, as for stopping to eat, restroom, etc. If their driver manager has something against that, then C.R. England should install portOjohns in all their trucks.
People know my story with England, so won’t repeat it here. There is nothing wrong with drivers doing something, Brad. If you need to pass gas, are you going to somehow hold it in? Of course not, nor should you. Now, these drivers aren’t passing gas, but at least you get my drift (no pun intended).
C.R. England hires more than a “few small people.” As one of those people I have to say that if you choose to pull off the road for any reason, it will cost you. In the end most people do not make enough money with this company to support themselves, many don’t even make enough to buy food to eat. I believe that something should be done to keep people from having to work for FREE and to pay for a fleet of trucks for the company to keep.
To whom it may concern,
What I suffered at C.R. England I had to look on the web. How is it possible for them to be allowed by law to work people with no pay? I had to go two days with no food while driving they didn’t care. The lease program they have is a discredit to ones intelligence I can safely say my life was wreaked from biting the apple they provided. I’m homeless and ended up with a suspended driver licenses due to financial obligations and they don’t care they bring in suckers and desperate people looking for hope by the busloads. I was told I have to drive 500miles a day to make it, that’s not possible, when the truck I lease from them broke down 240 miles away from the home terminal I was leased a lemon and they didn’t care it’s like buying a car from a crooked car salesmen, of course I believe what they told me about the truck I leased their suppose to be on my side. They took so much money out from my hard work I brought home nothing. I did the math and from working my hardest I was working for free and they were making bank of me! I hope no man has to suffer like I did I couldn’t pay and bills and eat at the same time.
Now I have nothing…
I began my career with Englan 11/2009. Resigned in 5/2010. Had I not used every suevival tool known t man, I would have a fraudulent record generated by England and potential bad referral by England with current employer. C. R. England is a very corrupt organization. They have built the largest slave colony of drivers in the industry through numerous fraudulent tactics. Fortunately, they are now in a sling they can not escape from. They have damaged more good hard working drivers than any company I know. Anyone, who says they are a good company to work for is either an England agent or highly ignorant! Look at the data, talk to former England drivers!!!
what the hell are you talking about england is being sued because their taking peoples last paychecks and created their own loan company that is supposedly for school but isnt backed by any sally maid or anything and is an outrageous 18% on top of that its only 17 days they scare you in to doing the school or else NO JOB ITIMIDATION FACTOR and then if you do get your cdl somewhere else they still charge 1000 for a refresher corse or NO JOB! guess how much a cdl costs???????????? 66 dollars in california so why is everybody charging thousands??? its legal ROBBERY has nothing to do with someone pissing on the road!
i am a current driver for cr england from the very get go they have lied and lied and lied to me about pay and hometime. i am trying to get a bunch of drivers who are or who were drivers for cr england to get a petition to have them investigated by the irs and the labor board. i have been driving trucks for a long time and only getting paid .285cpm so they say but when i look at my payroll voucher it says .264cpm. now that illegal and slavery right there. if anybody is interested about getting that petition rolling please email me asap…thanx
My fiance is a current traineer. He is only getting 1500-1600 miles per week solo. They told him if he wants more miles he has to get a trainee. So, he gets the trainee, now only about 2000-2400 per week. Negative paychecks, he owes them and still has to pay his trainee. Trainers usually get paid more to train instead of less. He should not have to make the trainee’s paycheck out of his own. He only makes about .06 cpm and has to pay trainee .12 cpm. They won’t give him more miles no matter how much he complains. He cannot even get the rewards points possible each month due to the low mileage.
I drove for England up until the beginning of may this year, I started my training in November of last year and had a minor medical issue that was resolved quickly. The company kept me sitting on my ass for almost 2 months before they decided to get me back on another truck to finish my training. I decided to do the 6 month option on their lease, figuring I would get experience in running a truck profitably, even though I knew I didn’t stand to make a whole lot of money driving for them, I would get the skills and experience that I could take elsewhere.
I lasted 2 months of nothing but negative paychecks, low miles, and had bullshit from the DMs and higher-ups.
Then they fired me based on an allegation made by someone that I hit their vehicle, despite having no evidence at all to back it up, and the identification numbers they had did not match me.
no police report filed, and no damage to the trailer.
All because I voiced my disagreement with them not letting me make money, someone decided to look for a reason to fire me.
Now they’re trying to make me pay almost eleven thousand dollars for their schooling, maintenance on the truck, and fuel I purchased before being fired. They’ve included all these charges, but didn’t apply pay for one single mile I had driven for the last 5 loads I hauled. They even charged for the $400 in fuel I put in on the way into the yard, which I didn’t use but maybe half a gallon of it since I left the truck the next day.
If anyone knows a good lawyer I can talk to, preferably in the North Texas area, please let me know at: generic_anonymous_address@yahoo.com
i tell u i leased a truck wih cr england had a year left on it when i did so. I have lease than 30 days left on lease. I have made in a year 18 positive cheks the rest negative. the reason i tollerated all that was to buy this truck now they have changed critia to purchase truck in last ninty days. I dont qualify to purchase it. They want me to quit now they r the worst company in america maybe the world. Steal from their drivers talk to you like a dog. Im suing them for wrongful termination and with holding of monies in my accounts.
i MYSELF WORK FOIR THIS COMPANY AND CAN TELL YOU,THEY DO SOME THINGS THAT ARENT RIGHT STILL,I FOUND OUT A WEEK AGO THAT THEY PUT YOU ON PER DIEM (PAY YOU LESS THAN YOUR AGREED UPON MILEAGE RATE) BY default!,I UNCHECKED THE PER DIEM,AND THEY still PUT ME ON IT,COST ME 24 DOLLARS,I CALLED UP TO TELL THEM THEY MADE A MISTAKE AND VOILA!,’NO,WE DIDNT,WE PUT YOU ON IT NO MATTER WHAT YOU CHECK OFF ON PAPER YOU SIGNED,YOU HAVE TO CALL IN AND VERBALLY TELL US YOU WANT OFF OR OVER THE QUALCOMM’ NOW that is sneaky!,THEY MADE 24 DOLLARS OFF ME FROM THAT AND AS FAR AS IM CONCERNED,THEY HAD no right TO DO THAT!! SO,DO YOU really BELIRVE ITS A “LITTLE THING”???,HA!,THATS JUST ONE EXAMPLE I KNOW OF PERSONALLY,IM VERY CERTAIN THERES A LOT WORSE HAPPENING TO OTHERS.
Hi: I read your entry on Ask The Trucker. My husband is fresh out of their school and we are having major problems. By the time they take out of the fees and stuff from his check we have nothing. Now they say he owes them like $400! We have went from having nice furniture and a nice place to live to no furniture (had to sell it to move to a location that was cheaper to live)and no money to pay our bills. We are looking at getting evicted yet again! I would be interested in talking to you about England because I would love to get a law suite started. I think you have to get at least 3 people to start a class action law suite so I know there is at least that many england drivers or former england drivers out their that would want in on it. Please reply if you are interested.
Here is the man you NEED to talk Talk to. He was at our convention 2 weeks ago and he gave a wealth of information.
Paul Taylor: http://www.truckersjusticecenter.com
These are EXACTLY the types of cases he deals with.
If you want a DVD of the entire event:
Anyone interested in going together to file a class action law suite against CREngland please send me an email at sweetkschick@yahoo.com with your own england horror story. I am fuming at the injustice that is occuring to the truck drivers(my husband included)and I wish I had heard these stories before my husband sign their lease agreement and contract with crengland. They pressure the students into signing these contracts because the students are weary of how long they have gone without and just want to get out on the road and make money so they sign thinking the company wouldn’t do them wrong. BIG MISTAKE! Had I been there I would have read every word of both contracts and asked specific questions and they would have answered every question or he wouldn’t have signed it. That is just part of my horror story so if you are interested email me.
CONTACT PAUL TAYLOR!!!!!
http://www.truckersjusticecenter.com
I went to school there & it was bs.I was going to lease but I thought about all the what ifs.what if i dont get enough miles.then I dont have a partner,dont have enough hours to drive.then they dont feed u while ur at the hotel waiting for a truck,they even forgot I was even at the hotel where they left me.I had to go do other work in order to have food to eat.then while i was out working my sleeping bag&personal belongings were stolen.when i asked where my stuff was at?they gave me a paper stateing there not responsible for stolen property to sign before I could receive what property was left.
I am currently in the middle of similar thing with England.My truck is in the shop after the first trip,and I just got a call from a stupid manager that said they are going to come pick up my truck and re-po it if I dont get on the road!! They leased me a lemon,and expect me to get on the road???? Thank God I made it home with NO Money!! I had to pull $160. out of my pocket to get home since they shut off all my gas cards in the middle of my trip!!What a bunch of non carring jerks!!Let me know what you did,I want out of this lease and everything I own is in my truck at the shop still! THANKS,Mark M.(Tacoma,Washington).
Very interested.Just signed a lease a month ago with them and I am in a nightmare…My truck is in the shop and they are threatning me to come and re-po my truck.I have called Horizon leasing over 25 times with not one phone call returned!! Mark M.
I can relate to your story.I leased a vehicle 2 weeks ago fresh out of phase 1,they promised me home time after I do my first assignment.I completed my first load 6 hours early and started heading for home,my so called manager called me up and cussed me out and told me to turn around,when I told him I was headed home for home time,they shut my gas cards off.Thank God I had $160.in my pocket to put gas in or I would not have made it home.NOW my truck is in the shop and I just got a call from my manager telling me if I am not on the road by this weekend they are going to re-po my truck,which is still in the shop as it is a LEMON they leased me!!I went to work to help my family and my wife out and now I am broke and waisted the past 10 weeks for nothing!!Last 2 checks were negative!!What a great company!!They destroy peoples lifes and should be shut down!!I would love to help with a lawsuit against them for all of their LIES!!!!! Mark M.(Tacoma,Wa.)
CR England has had a TERRIBLE reputation for the better part of 30 years now. It is AMAZING to me that they can still get people to go through their schools and enter into one of their lease agreements….when their reputation is SO well known and well documented!
Do ANY of these truckers do ANY kind of research before they jump into a big pile of shit that has been sitting there and stinking up the industry for 30 years? Come on people….stay away from this company! Do some research!
The bad thing is that most people (Like myself)are brand new to this trucking industry,and we believe that England,like other companies in this world cannot get away with mis-representation,(BUT THEY DO)!What happened to the”Truth in Lending Act”when they lease to own a vehicle,and they stick you in a small room in a cubicle,and have you sign all of the paperwork with a electronic signature on a computer without any chance at all of having someone else look it over before you sign?? Is this what they call disclosure?? Is this really legal?? They would not give me a lease to take with me to look at it before I sign,nor to have anyone else look it over! THIS HAS TO BE A CRIME!!!HORIZON SALES AND LEASING IS PART OF CR ENGLAND,NO MATTER WHAT THEY TELL YOU!!Amazing they even have the head of traing for England sitting at a desk doing paperwork in their offices at Horizon,I should have ran when I saw that!!!!WARNING,DO NOT LEASE FROM THEM,THEY WILL RIP YOU OFF ONE WAY OR ANOTHER!!!
well i can also attest to the fact they wont allow you to look over the lease or a copy to have looked over. oh yes they will take every dime and then some. got a truck and it need filters replaced that shop said horizon should done prior to my being issued the truck . so it fell under 30 day warranty .
well they took the money placed me on payment program that i was never told about . was talked to condescendingly by ic lady in driver service center . handed her keys n said it’s not working id like to get a company sot n she told me pack it up n find a job else where then security escorted me to horizon offices . tim in horizon apologized said money was credited back and i didn’t owe any money or have any deficits , then on payday i’m in hole and they took the money out again that i was supposedly credited .
on top of fact they havent sent money to state of california for my court ordered child support which i told them about. all that after i was there for orientation and low n behold we get there late sunday night n told oh we have no rooms.
off to hotel to only be bakc at 0500 and then told that because i cant read 20/30.
with that im disqualified unless i go see eye doctor at walamrt . so i go there pay him and he says well dot is 20/40 and your eyes are 20/40 so u are legal to drive . then tells me its all a money scam at england as he sees several people daily from them. .dm took till i said i was going home for xmas to get me by the house but couldnt n tells me repeatedly where you live sucks for freight and coudldn’t get me home till after new years as i said id be flexible then i get bs loads or loads sent out to me after being ran around to deal with a trlr needing a pm service n the company decides they will do it themselves instead paying ta or tk to do it and then sends me a load to pick up a hundred mles away and due two days later .
says dont run tollroads but base miles running tollroad . THey found out i was a trainer at another company and then dont give me miles or give me low paying loads . Told by head training in slc i can take one or two phase 2 students then would have do the phase one class ok so i go in last week ask for phase 2 n he sasy oh im sorry but because your an experience driver u have take the rookie phase 1 guys . i was told by you directly i could take one or 2 phase 2 guys to see if i wanted to keep one them as a second seat now ur tellign me i have to train or i can starve and lose my stuff in storage and my kids can go with out .
Seriousuly these places like cre and crst are scandolous . yesterday i ask be compensated for the waste of my hours and my dm says we dont give ic lay over pay . well lets see i wasn’t lay over due to my doing . i ask him a question and its i don’t have the answers i’m not the road service dept . yet he told me he was a former driver .
m sorry but even in military i didnt tolerate ineptness and i made my family a promise wen i came here that id behave and do what i was asked to do and im still broke . now im no choir boy nor am i public enemy numero uno but truth be told i do not need the inept dispatcher. last week he took off as soon as he came into the office to work form home because his kid was sick . must be nice but if its true he was a driver he must have forgot where he came from . now i have to deal with bad weather delays and they say oh we reset ur appt go on in and customers are like come back tomorrow night or u go to walmart and can tb late or early and check in at front gate at time ur supposed to be there and when u go to the dock n dock the trlr n go inside the guy inside says we will unload when we get to u cus ur late u are supposed be her eat the appt time not the front gate . they don’t like pay, stop pay, nor detention pay . the so called state art building in burns harbor indiana is a joke.
they have a fake guard named larry who is one rude and disgruntled old man . he became verbally abusive with me when delaign with him n i reported him and then was in slc few days later and i was called in for a random drug test two weeks into being with company when i just took a drug test and oh yes i passed both n best part was during hiring i was told wait n lady scalped me saying id been selected for random hair test by computer now if i didn’t have an id n havent been hired howd comuter randomly pull me? hmm…
also they have a chiropractor singing ur med card they make u get even if u have a current valid card but oh if u have one signed by their dr n are a rehire u don’t have to do the physical… total bs . i told them i do not wish to use equinox in erson didnt select it when signed up told them on phone and they still take the moeny from my check n wont return it . told the girl when she calls em and she said ok and still they take money for the service despite my declining it . i tuned in direct deposit info and they cant even do that correctly. Theres a reason they have a armed guard there .
oh and as for them haha ya way go i had a student there decide out no where to say he was a muslim while sitting in tv lounge upstairs and threaten to kill me for making fun of him, mind you he was a white guy and looked like grizzly adams and had been statign issues with others while i was in orientation . i informed security and he tells them im muslim and deCLARIN jihad against that white bitch and will kill him for allah i wrote up a whole detailed report had witnesses and he proceeded to threaten me again in front of a second guard and they failed to remove him or call the slc pd to deal with it . the facility in slc or west valley utah is rumored to be a former detention facility and honestly the lay out of the building is very similar to one .
the burns harbor facility drivers lounge is a run down building with black toxic mold in the shower every washer n dryer there is broken also. on graduation day in slc they tell u how bill and gene england loaned money during the war to fellow soldiers and how pride is owned by another memBER of the family .
they have a leasing division if you would like a new car haha just one more racket they have . all good things if they where an honest company and treated drivers with respect . now maybe it is different though if your a member o the mormon church in good standing and come to work there then maybe you get paid and dont have any issues .just know that cre is a joke and just a crooked if not worse then crst is .
i have been on elogs since i got my cdl in 2010 and have had more issues with so called violations since i been here at england then i had prior to coming here . their whole way of doing things is a joke and honestly the feds need come in n shut them down .
get a truck inspect it n its allegedly cleaned and wasn’t n they agreed redetail inside and failed do so . sad say but when i return the truck to them it’ll be cleaner then it was when i was issued it . 9 month demo optio and if u turn it in early u best have another job lined up because u cant switch to company unless u finish the 9 months .
lease purchase another joke because u have to lease for 2 yrs then pny up whatever outlandish amount they want for it or release and then payments count to pay for truck. not what they tell you over phone . these guys are nothing short of snake oil sales men . you ask speak to a manager and nothing .
i asked to switch dm and over to the container division and no reply . i aks about pay issues and no reply . i told them about court ordered child support and nothing other then low paying loads and low miles . handbook says they dont like if you have court ordered garnishments . so basically they want u to quit or slave away but be in debt to them . Unfortunately i needed to work and this isnt my first rodeo but i tried to have a pma and realized it was going south real fast but trying to make it work to support my family and not happening . im try taking a student but dont see that happening as in order for me make barely enough to pay child support and bills id have turn 6,000 miles a week and im not even taking 2 phase 1 students like they seem enjoy doing . trucks are 2 small for that and i doNT see how thats even allowed by dot .
just gotta ride it out and somehow see some money . barely able to eat as i have to take the 100 for expenses every week and hold back enough to scale 2 loads a week and then get a load a bread and send rest home and that barely covers diapers for my daughter . so if you are willing to work for free and do not desire to own anything or wont mind having ur phone shut off or power off or lose ur car or home or storage then be my guest and come to cre but do yourself a favor and if UR new to trucking do not SERIOUSLY DO NOT EVER LEASE A TRUCK HERE .
SAVE YOUR MONEY IF U WANT UR OWN TRUCK AND MAKE SURE YOUR CREDITS GOOD ENOUGH TO GET A TRUCK FRM A DEALERSHIP . OH N DON’T THINK ABOUT EVEN TRYING LEASE A TRUCK YOU OWN TO THESE CLOWNS CUS UNLESS ITS ON THEIR BEST INTEREST U WONT BE ABLE RUN IT THERE. ALREADY ASKED AND WAS TOLD SEE HORIZON AND THEY SAID THEY HAVE TO APPROVE IT AND BASICALLY THAT MEANS NO BECAUSE ITS NOT FORM THEIR FLEET SO THEY CANT TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOU OR BENEFIT FORM IT . YA THESE GUYS ARE A REAL SAD LOT .
yes how r u doin my name is Cleveland plz I need to know how do I get in on this law suit