Fired fuel truck driver sues over whistleblower retaliation, in-cab monitoring, and racy calendars in company trucks
A California truck driver filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against his trucking company as well as the company’s fleet management technology provider.
Earlier this year, Rodrigo Garcia filed suit against Figueroa Tank Lines and Samsara, Inc., a technology company providing electronic logging devices (ELDs), in-cab cameras, artificial-intelligence-assisted video monitoring, and data analytics systems.
According to the complaint, Garcia was hired by Figueroa as a fuel truck driver on December 1, 2024.
Garcia was terminated on August 4, 2025, just three days after receiving a written warning alleging that he had used a cellphone while driving and covered the in-cab camera. The company terminated Garcia for the phone violation after he refused to sign the write-up.
Trucker Says He Was Pressured To Drive Unsafe Equipment
Garcia alleges that the termination was in part retaliation for his protected Whistleblower reporting of safety violations.
According to the suit, within a few months of beginning his employment, Garcia reported the following equipment issues to supervisors and management:
- Tires with visible damage or slash marks
- Inadequate tire pressure and air leaks
- Missing antifreeze and overheating risks
- Mechanical defects that rendered trucks unsafe for operation
- Failure to timely repair trucks placed out of service.
Garcia said that when he reported these issues, he was told he was “exaggerating safety risks” and that he was pressured to continue driving unsafe equipment.
Garcia also said he was “assigned routes and workload routinely required 12–14 hour shifts, leaving insufficient time to take legally compliant meal and rest breaks” and that the company had misled him about his pay rate.
Lawsuit: In-Cab Monitoring Violated Driver’s Privacy Rights
The lawsuit further alleges that the company violated Garcia’s privacy rights and California law through the company’s practices of in-cab monitoring of drivers through Samsara systems.
In May 2025, Figueroa installed forward and driver-facing cameras in its fleet but told drivers that “dash cameras were intended primarily for accident investigation and safety purposes, were not to be used for routine monitoring of employee performance, were not normally active, and were subject to strict limits on access, retention, and use.”
However, Garcia maintains that the trucking company “used the Samsara system to engage in continuous and covert monitoring of drivers through AI-assisted video analysis, generating so-called “distraction incidents” unrelated to accidents or external safety events.”
The lawsuit also accuses Figueroa of making in-cab footage, driver data, and AI-generated incident reports accessible to multiple individuals within the company through a shared Samsara portal. Information available through the Samsara portal allegedly included driver’s license numbers, home addresses, phone numbers, and video footage of drivers inside company vehicles, Garcia said.
Garcia names Samsara in the wrongful termination suit because “Samsara performed the traditional employer function of monitoring and evaluating employee performance and generating the evidentiary basis for discipline—functions that, under California law, give rise to potential liability as an agent of the employer.”
Trucker Alleges Company Ignored Complaints About Explicit Calendars
Figueroa also retaliated against Garcia after he complained about sexual harassment in the workplace, according to the lawsuit.
Specifically, Garcia raised a red flag about racy calendars inside the company’s trucks.
From the complaint:
“During his employment, Plaintiff observed pornographic calendars depicting nude women displayed inside company trucks that drivers were required to operate. Plaintiff found these materials offensive, inappropriate, and unprofessional, and reasonably believed they contributed to a hostile and sexually charged work environment in violation of Figueroa’s written harassment policy and California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”). In or around June 2025, Plaintiff complained to management, including Kevin Figueroa, about the presence of these pornographic materials and expressed concern that drivers should not be required to work in vehicles displaying sexually explicit imagery. Rather than addressing the complaint, management laughed at Plaintiff and dismissed his concerns, stating words to the effect of “you are in an industry full of men, what do you expect?” and implying that Plaintiff should tolerate the conduct. No investigation was conducted, no corrective action was taken, and the pornographic materials remained in company vehicles.“
This case is currently pending in state court in Contra Costa County. Garcia is seeking a jury trial.
The lawsuit calls for compensatory damages, restitution, and injunctive relief as well as attorneys’ fees and costs.
Samsara has denied that it employed Garcia or engaged in employer functions such as such as paying his wages, setting his duties, supervising his work, or possessing authority to discipline or discharge him.