Class action suit against Landstar will proceed

A Jacksonville judge has ruled that a lawsuit against Landstar System Inc. “can proceed as a class action suit”:

The suit alleges that Landstar, a Jacksonville-based trucking company that leases its capacity from independent owner-operators, violated truth-in-leasing regulations that resulted in truckers being denied compensation due to them.

Prior to Judge Henry Adams certifying the class, the plaintiffs consisted of four named parties and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association Inc. Now the class consists of all owner operators in the United States who had or have leases with Landstar Inway Inc., Landstar Ranger Inc. or Landstar Ligon Inc. since Nov. 1, 1998. The number of members in the class must be determined, although the plaintiffs estimate more than 7,000 people will be included.

Landstar attorneys had argued not everyone who met the class definition had similar complaints against the company, but Adams concluded there are “common questions of law and fact in this matter such that the commonality element has been satisfied.”

Plaintiffs’ attorney Michael Freed said the class certification also means the amount of potential damages is likely to increase to “tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars.” Landstar said it will appeal the class action ruling and believes it has meritorious defenses to the claims asserted in the suit.

Freed said the lawsuit would have gone to trial in October, but that more discovery will be required by both parties in light of the class certification. A trial may not take place until April 2006.