Earlier this month, a North Carolina judge overturned the certification of a class-action lawsuit against CEVA Freight.
In January of 2011, U.S. District Judge Frank D. Whitney certified a class-action lawsuit against CEVA. The lawsuit alleges that CEVA underpaid 2,000 of its drivers.
However, depositions since 2011 have led to the desertification of the lawsuit. The depositions showed that many of the individuals named in the class-action suit have individual contracts with the carrier. According to Business Management Daily, the decision to decertify the suit was a result of the suit “lacked the commonality necessary for a class-action suit.”
The judge cited Walmart v. Dukes as a basis for this decision. The case, Walmart v. Dukes, was a class-action lawsuit brought forth by 1.6 million women work or who have worked for Walmart. The suit alleged gender discrimination in pay and promotions
The case was later decertified after it was found that the case did not meet Rule 23 requirements. “Rule 23 is very important to court Justices and the legal system when regarding class action lawsuits because it proves whether the group has further merit to move onto a bigger lawsuit or not. It was not the Justice’s job to decide if Wal-Mart was discriminating against their employees, but it was their job to decide whether this case had merit for a class action lawsuit under the classifications of Rule 23,” Monetary Damages and the (b)(2) Class Action: A Closer Look at Wal-Mart v. Dukes stated.
In 2006, the Supreme Court agreed to revisit the class-action lawsuit, however on On June 20, 2011, the Supreme Court ruled in Wal-Mart’s favor.
If the CVEA employees decided to follow through with the lawsuit, they must do so individually.