You are currently viewing the site for the prior Settlements in this lawsuit with Western Express, Inc., Schneider National Carriers, Inc., Southern Refrigerated Transport, Inc., Covenant Transport, Inc., Paschall Truck Lines, Inc., Stevens Transport, Inc. For the first batch of Settlements, the Court granted final approval of the Settlements on August 5, 2022. The Settlement Administrator began mailing settlement checks to eligible Class Members on November 18, 2022.

For information about the new proposed Settlements with CRST Expedited, Inc., CRST International, Inc., and C.R. England, click here.

What is this lawsuit about?

A class action lawsuit called Curtis Markson, Mark McGeorge, Clois McLendon, and Eric Clark (“Plaintiffs”) vs. CRST International, Inc., CRST Expedited, Inc., C.R. England, Inc., Western Express, Inc., Schneider National Carriers, Inc., Southern Refrigerated Transport, Inc., Covenant Transport, Inc., Paschall Truck Lines, Inc., Stevens Transport, Inc. and DOES 1-10 (“Defendants”), Case No. 5:17-cv-01261-SB (SPx), is pending in the Central District of California (the “Court”).

In the lawsuit, the Plaintiffs have reached proposed settlements with Western Express, Inc. (“Western Express”), Southern Refrigerated Transport, Inc. (“Southern Refrigerated”), Covenant Transport, Inc. (“Covenant”), Schneider National Carriers, Inc. (“Schneider”), Paschall Truck Lines, Inc. (“Paschall”), and Stevens Transport, Inc. (“Stevens”) only (collectively, the “Settling Defendants”).  The case will continue against CRST International, Inc., CRST Expedited, Inc., C.R. England, Inc., and DOES 1-10 (collectively, the “Non-Settling Defendants”).

If approved by the Court, the settlements will resolve Plaintiffs’ claims that they were allegedly injured as a result of the Settling Defendants’ participation in an alleged conspiracy to restrain competition through an alleged “no-poach” agreement with other trucking company Defendants resulting in allegedly suppressed compensation of their drivers.

Who is included?

The Settlement Class includes all current and former drivers “Under Contract” as motor vehicle carrier drivers with Defendants at any time from May 15, 2013 through February 25, 2022 (or through April 1, 2022 for purposes of the settlement with Stevens Transport) (“Class Period”).  “Under Contract” generally refers to a driver who agreed to work for any of the Defendants for a specified period of time in return for training provided by, funded by, or reimbursed by that Defendant. For more information, please see FAQ 5.

What do the Settlements provide?

If the settlements are approved, the Settling Defendants will pay $9,750,000 to the Settlement Fund.  The Settlement Fund will be used to pay: (1) the Settlement Administrator for administering the settlement and notice, (2) Plaintiff Class Representative awards (not to exceed $25,000 per Plaintiff Class Representative), and (3) any attorneys’ fees (not to exceed one-fourth of the benefits created for the Settlement Class) and any expenses awarded by the Court (up to $2.8 million).  The remainder of the Settlement Fund (“Net Settlement Fund”) will be available for distribution to qualifying Settlement Class Members. The Net Settlement Fund will be distributed on a pro rata basis based on the number of weeks class members worked for one of the Defendants. Western Express, Southern Refrigerated, Covenant, Schneider, and Paschall also agree to provide injunctive relief under the proposed Settlements. For more information, please see FAQ 7.