Fixed Ops Journal - August 2021 - F19

FIXED OPS JOURNAL
LEGAL LANE
Former techs at Nissan store refi le
lawsuit alleging wage violations
Two former technicians at a Nissan store
have revived a proposed class-action lawsuit
accusing Nissan North America of wage violations
under the Fair Labor Standards Act and
Florida's minimum wage law.
Jose Ayala and Jeff Santos fi led a revised
complaint July 9 arguing Nissan is the joint
employer of technicians, along with individual
car dealerships, and that Nissan controls
dealership compensation policies. Nissan has
denied this.
Nissan's " implementation, manipulation
and use of piece-rate pay and/or fl at-rate pay
violated Florida and federal laws and statutes, "
the suit contends. " Nissan manages its
business by engaging in joint venture relationships
with various qualifying individuals
or business entities who manage the day-today
operation of a dealership, under the direction
and control of Nissan. "
No individual dealerships were sued, and
the suit doesn't identify Ayala and Santos' former
employer.
At least 100 and possibly as many as 3,000
present and former technicians could be affected
by the case, said plaintiff s' lawyer
Jolynn Falto of Altamonte Springs, Fla.
Th e new fi ling follows a ruling by U.S. District
Judge Roy Dalton Jr. that dismissed the
case for procedural reasons.
Wrongful dismissal claim upheld
in suit over COVID protocols
A British Columbia Supreme Court judge
has upheld a service dispatcher's claims that a
Langley City dealership wrongfully dismissed
him after he objected to a lack of social distancing
and COVID-19 protective equipment
in his offi ce.
Justice Elaine Adair ordered Preston Chevrolet-Buick-GMC-Cadillac
to pay Robert Ehman
$23,685 in damages.
" Th ere is no dispute that Ehman was dismissed,
that his dismissal was without cause
and that he did not receive reasonable notice "
in August 2020, Adair wrote. She also said he
acted reasonably to mitigate his damages by
applying for more than 90 jobs.
Ehman became a service dispatcher, or
" tower operator, " in 2007, controlling and distributing
the fl ow of work to Preston's service
departments, the decision said. He shared an
offi ce with a foreman and the dealership's
other tower operator.
After the Canadian province declared a pandemic
state of emergency, he discussed work
coverage questions that might arise from
physical distancing requirements, the judge
said. She said there were no plexiglass barriers
or physical distancing when he was dismissed,
steps taken after he left.
Adair calculated damages based Ehman's
contractual three-day workweek rather than
the temporary one-day-a-week schedule he'd
agreed to before the dismissal.
- Eric Freedman
foj@autonews.com
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AUGUST 2021 PAGE 19
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Fixed Ops Journal - August 2021

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