BENTON – Attorney David Cates decided against pursuing a class action for truck driver Dominion Sadler, who abandoned a truck on North Grand Avenue in St. Louis after ripping out its global positioning system.
Cates, who filed wage claims for Sadler against Mertzke Excavating and Trucking of East St. Louis, dismissed the suit with prejudice in U.S. district court on June 30.
Cates sued Mertzke in St. Clair County circuit court last November, alleging violations of state laws on minimum wage and wage collection.
“Plaintiff and other truck drivers would be forced to arrive at defendant’s premises to pick up the truck, inspect it for safety and operation, and then drive the truck to the location designated by the defendant,” Cates wrote.
He claimed that at the end of a shift, drivers were required to empty the truck, clean it, return it to Mertzke’s premises, and perform another inspection, and that Mertzke didn’t pay drivers for time on these tasks.
He wrote that Mertzke employed about 20 truck drivers.
Mertzke counsel Brian McGovern of Town and Country, Mo., removed the suit to district court in December.
He asserted diversity jurisdiction for Mertzke as an Illinois corporation with a plaintiff from Missouri.
He moved to dismiss the suit in January, stating Sadler included no detail about his hours or how he was paid.
He claimed Sadler failed to allege a contract or agreement requiring payment of an overtime premium.
Cates responded that, “Plaintiff is not required to plead each shift he worked for each week he worked.”
He claimed recovery of overtime doesn’t require a written agreement or a contract and that parties by conduct alone can show an agreement.
District Judge Staci Yandle dismissed the overtime claim on April 6, but didn’t dismiss the minimum wage claim.
McGovern filed a counter claim for Mertzke the next day, stating Sadler started a shift after failing a drug test in January.
In the countersuit, McGovernclaimed employee Ron Gishler instructed Sadler to provide possession of the truck to Mertzke and offered him a ride home.
He claimed Sadler assaulted Gishler and drove to St. Louis. He further claimed Sadler abandoned the truck in the middle of Grand Avenue about five blocks from his home.
He claimed Sadler filled the gas tanks with debris, tore out the GPS, and took a logbook and the ignition key.
He wrote that it cost Mertzke $4,370 to fix the damage.
Yandle entered a scheduling order in May, setting bench trial in December 2021.
She set this June 25 as a deadline for service of discovery requests.
Five days after the deadline, Cates ended the proceedings.