Gannett, LDC Distribution Sued by Allegedly Underpaid Newspaper Carrier

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Gannett Co., Inc. and LDC Distribution find themselves facing a proposed class action filed by an ex-newspaper carrier who alleges she was misclassified as an independent contractor and deprived of proper wages.

Gannett, which owns the USA Today Network and operates hundreds of local news brands, contracts with distributors like LDC to deliver its papers, the complaint explains. The plaintiff says she was paid on a piece-rate basis while delivering for the Desert Sun, a California-based Gannett subsidiary. According to the case, the defendants exercised too much control over the plaintiff’s performance to classify her as an independent contractor under state labor law. For example, the former carrier was apparently assigned customers and delivery routes and was required to complete her work within an allotted timeframe. The companies even docked her pay if she failed to deliver orders on time, the suit claims.

As a result of her alleged misclassification, the plaintiff, the suit continues, was not properly paid for break periods and “non-productive time.” The case explains that as the plaintiff was only paid a certain amount for each newspaper delivered, she was not compensated for time spent performing other duties, including loading papers into her car and planning her delivery route, which took at least an hour each day.

Moreover, the plaintiff alleges she was not reimbursed for business expenses. Specifically, the woman claims she was required to purchase a tablet from Gannett to access information about her deliveries and was charged a security deposit by the companies to cover any potential losses—costs she was told she must bear herself. Additionally, the plaintiff alleges she was not reimbursed for the gas and insurance costs of using her personal vehicle to perform the job.

All told, the case, which has been removed from state to federal California court, claims the defendants owe over $30,629,096 in unpaid wages and damages for inaccurate paystubs and misclassification.