Federal Courts Bar Application of Independent Contractor Law to Courier Drivers

The federal court system in Massachusetts is taking a bite out of the state’s independent contractor statute. Beginning last Fall and continuing through last month, three otherwise valid class action suits seeking to apply the law to courier drivers have turned in favor of the courier companies involved. The most recent decision involves a courier association’s contention that one of three prongs of the independent contractor statute  is preempted as applied to its industry by federal law. Though things went poorly for that argument early on, the tide recently turned in a big way.

On July 8, the court in Mass. Delivery Assoc. v. Healy issued a ruling after a remand by the First Circuit Court of Appeals. Following its instructions, the U.S. District Court issued judgment in favor of the delivery association. It concluded that a key component of the independent contractor law, Mass. Gen. L. ch. 149, §148B, was preempted as applied to courier drivers by the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (FAAAA).  That law bars application of any state law that affects the prices, routes or services of motor carriers involved in interstate commerce.

Though the import of the decision is unmistakable, it may not fully foreclose the application of the independent contractor statute to couriers and other motor carriers. Class action lawyers argue that, even if one of the three prongs of the law cannot be applied, courier drivers still must be treated as employees, not contractors, because the two remaining elements of the statute require it. In a separate U.S. District Court decision earlier this year, that argument was rejected. Though the court’s logic seems sound – it makes no sense to separate one prong of the Ch. 149, §148B test from the other two, since the conflict with federal law will remain – counsel have not given up. FAAAA issues have yet to play out in the state court system.

The preemption question is a huge one for motor carriers. Numerous courier companies have been hit with class action suits in recent years, and many have paid substantial settlements because meeting the rigid requirements of the independent contractor law is virtually impossible. Courier companies generally use an independent contractor model under which drivers are paid for deliveries, receive no benefits, and are considered independent contractors, not employees. When those drivers are found to have been misclassified under Mass. Gen. L. ch. 149, §148B, the law’s mandatory triple damage and legal fee awards frequently means that damages in class action suits rise into the multi-millions.