California's attorney general is suing three trucking companies operating at the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, alleging these companies deny their workers benefits by misclassifying them as independent contractors.


"These companies take advantage of their workers by failing to provide them with state-mandated protections and benefits," said Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. "Truck drivers at the ports work long hours under tough conditions. By unlawfully classifying workers as 'independent contractors,' these companies deny their employees important worker protections."

Moreno Trucking, owned by Noel A. Moreno and his wife Emma R. Moreno, Guasimal Trucking, and Edmund Jose Lira, are accused of employing cost-cutting schemes to avoid California taxes.

The three trucking companies misrepresent their workers as independent contractors to avoid paying state-mandated workers' compensation and other disability benefits. Under their working conditions, the employees should have employee status and its legal protections and benefits. The companies control all aspects of the drivers' work and own and maintain the trucks that the workers drive. Drivers are paid by the hour and often forced to work 60 hours or more a week.

These three lawsuits follow two similar lawsuits filed in September. Beginning in February, the Attorney General authorized a task force to investigate trucking companies at Long Beach and Los Angeles Ports. The investigation uncovered numerous state labor law violations committed by several trucking companies operating at the ports.

The lawsuits lawsuits allege that the trucking companies named in the suits have an unfair advantage over their competitors in violation of California Business and Professions Code 17200 by depriving employees of benefits and protections entitled to them under California law. These companies are also cheating the State of California out of thousands of dollars in state payroll taxes.