Gomez et al v. JP Trucking
May 16, 2022OUTCOME: Remanded for award consistent with findings (all truck drivers were awarded at least some overtime pay.)
The Colorado Supreme Court considered whether four commercial truck drivers were entitled to overtime pay from their former employer, JP Trucking, Inc., for hours they worked exceeding 40 hours per wee ... k or 12 hours per day. A state regulation in effect during the relevant timeframe (i.e., throughout 2015), Colorado Minimum Wage Order 31, contains a provision exempting “interstate drivers” from overtime compensation (the Wage Order 31 exemption). The Court held that the term “interstate drivers” in the Wage Order 31 exemption refers to drivers whose work takes them across state lines, regardless of how often. Therefore, the Wage Order 31 exemption is triggered the first time a driver crosses state lines during a work trip. Here, two of the four truck drivers did not cross state lines during a work trip. Consequently, they do not come within the scope of “interstate drivers” in the Wage Order 31 exemption and were entitled to overtime compensation. But the other two drivers each crossed state lines during a work trip, which rendered them “interstate drivers” under the Wage 31 exemption and thus ineligible for overtime compensation.
