Fixed Ops Journal - April 2021 - F17

FIXED OPS JOURNAL

LEGAL LANE
Labor law violation suit
against Sonic can proceed
A class-action lawsuit accusing Sonic Automotive Inc. and a number of its Houston-area
stores of violating labor laws will proceed, a
Texas federal judge has ruled.
The decision rejected Sonic's bid to dismiss
the case filed on behalf of porters, valets, car
washers, detailers and shuttle drivers. The suit
accuses the dealership group and the stores of
failing to pay minimum wage and overtime
and failing to pay for all the hours the employees worked. Sonic has disputed the allegations in court filings, arguing it wasn't the
workers' employer for purposes of the wage
and hours law.
The plaintiffs were employed through
now-defunct Rascoa, which had a supply and
service agreement with Sonic, the Feb. 25 decision said. They claim they were assigned to
individual stores and received uniforms or
badges with the dealerships' individual logos,
and that Sonic and Rascoa " had joint authori-

ty to hire and fire them, " jointly controlled
their pay rates and jointly supervised and
controlled work schedules and conditions of
employment.
The parties are now conducting pretrial discovery to identify which employees are covered by the suit.

Dealership agrees to pay
fired employee $45,000
An Idaho dealership has agreed to pay
$45,000 to a fired service employee who was
injured in an on-the-job accident. The Jan. 5
settlement resolved an Occupational Health
and Safety Administration lawsuit against

Dennis Dillon Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge-Ram.
According to court filings, Ronald Frederick
Jr. was one of three employees involved in a
2016 accident at the Caldwell, Idaho, store,
but the only one injured.
After he reported the incident, the store
twice ordered Frederick - but not the other
two workers - to take a urine test. He unsuccessfully protested to the service manager
that the requirement was unfair. He then contacted OSHA and was fired three days later,
according to the suit OSHA filed on his behalf.
The dealership didn't admit to any violations in the consent judgment, which requires
the store to provide Frederick with a " neutral "
job reference and prohibits the dealership
from discussing why he left the company
" other than to say that it was for personal reasons. "
The order also prohibits discrimination
against employees filing OSHA complaints.
- Eric Freedman
foj@autonews.com

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Fixed Ops Journal - April 2021

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