Class Action – Wage & Payment Collection Act – Contract

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Peter Enger, et al. v. Chicago Carriage Cab Corp., et al

Case No.: 15-1057

Officials: FLAUM, WILLIAMS, and SYKES, Circuit Judges.

Practice Area: Class Action – Wage & Payment Collection Act – Contract

Employment agreement did not require compensation to drivers.

“Because the drivers have not shown that they are entitled to wages from defendants, their argument that defendants made improper deductions from their wages by requiring them to pay fees and expenses fails as a matter of law. Defendants do not pay the drivers’ wages and so they cannot be sued for taking deductions from those non-existent wages. More broadly, it is inaccurate to characterize the shift fees and other expenses that the drivers voluntarily pay to operate defendants’ cabs as a deduction. Instead, the drivers’ payment of fees and expenses is the consideration offered in exchange for the right to lease a cab and medallion under the parties’ implicit agreement. And although the drivers agreed to pay those fees and expenses, they now attempt to use the IWPCA to rewrite the terms of their employment agreement. But again, the IWPCA provides no substantive relief beyond what the underlying employment contract requires. In other words, the IWPCA exists to hold the employer to his promise under the employment agreement; by asking the judiciary to graft new terms into an employment contract without employer’s consent, the drivers turn the IWPCA on its head”

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.