Federal judge awards truck driver $153,870 plus reinstatement
Federal Administrative Law Judge Daniel Leland issued an order yesterday reinstating truck driver Cynthia Ferguson to her job with New Prime, Inc. He also awarded her $26,601 in back pay, $2,269 in compensation for her personal property, $50,000 in compensatory damages, and $75,000 in punitive damages for conduct that "was both reprehensible and inimical to the purpose of the Act." That Act is the Surface Transportation Assistance Act (STAA) that protects truck drivers when they blow the whistle on safety violations.
Ferguson refused to driver her truck over the Donner Pass near Reno, Nevada, on December 25, 2008. Ferguson saw the weather and the hazardous driving conditions as she drove. After consulting other drivers, listening to radio weather reports and receiving reports from the State authorities advising against travel, Ferguson said that she was not going to drive through Donner Pass until weather and driving conditions improved. Her dispatcher got upset with her and recommended that New Prime, Inc., fire her. Prime then dispatched Ferguson to Springfield, Missouri, where a Prime management official, Jack Ewing, fired her.
Judge Leland held that Ferguson's refusal to drive was legally protected because violations of DOT regulations would have occurred but for Ferguson's refusal to drive in the hazardous weather. Judge Leland credited Ferguson's testimony noting that she properly relied upon reliable reports of bad weather and unsafe driving conditions through Donner Pass. Judge Leland also ordered that New Prime, Inc., reinstate Ferguson as a driver, and that it pay Ferguson's legal fees.
Congratulations to Ferguson's attorney, Paul O. Taylor of the Truckers Justice Center, on this fine result.
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Way to go Cynthia!!! From one trucker to another the only way to make them listen is to hurt their pocket book. They are not behind the wheel and they don't care about the driver just their money! Smile when you walk in and be proud of yourself!!!!
This is good news!... a major victory for a fellow truck driver. Congratulations go out to Ms. Ferguson!
Your safety or life vs. your job. What a choice. I guess we are less than human in their eyes.
As a professional driver, you call the shots, you are the "captain of your ship". Ms. Ferguson made the absolute correct decision that night. This reflects poorly on New Prime, and I would never want to drive for a company who can't stand behind their drivers in a situation like this.
Had Ms. Ferguson continued her trip that night, and had a weather related accident, the first thing her company's safety department would have said, "If you knew that the weather was that bad, and unsafe traveling conditions, than why did you go on"? And then she would have been fired for that, for operating her vehicle in unsafe conditions, and negatory information would be put on her DAC, probably blackballing her from the industry.
The person who originally fired Ms. Ferguson should not be working in the transportation industry. I hope they fired him, and I hope that he becomes a trucker so that he will know the reality of what the drivers deal with on a daily basis.
It is good to see justice prevail for our truck driver here. All too often truckers are taken advantage of by the industry. Bravo!