A U.S. District Court Judge has ruled that a lawsuit filed by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association against Arctic Express is now a class action suit.
OOIDA says the ruling opens the door to potentially include as many as 2,000 owner-operators in the lawsuit.
OOIDA, with members Carl Harp, Garvin Keith Roberts and Michael Wiese, filed suit against Arctic Express Inc. of Hilliard, Ohio, and its affiliate truck leasing company, D&A Associates, claiming violations of the federal truth-in-leasing regulations for their failure to return escrow accounts after the termination of the owner-operators' leases.
On Aug. 29, U.S. District Court Judge Algenon L. Marbley (for the Southern District of Ohio, Eastern Division) had issued a written summary judgement in OOIDA's favor finding that Arctic Express had violated the federal leasing regulations and "absconded" with the escrow accounts of the owner-operators.
In ruling on their motion for class certification of the case, Marbley concluded that OOIDA and the owner-operators had sufficiently established that their claim met all the prerequisites needed for class certification. During the hearing, both sides in the case had agreed that a future class could include about 2,000 owner-operators with claims of financial injury from Arctic's failure to return escrow accounts after the termination of their leases.
The judge also approved OOIDA being named as a participant in the class, although it is non entitled to monetary relief. "The Court concludes that this suit is an embodiment of the purpose behind the formation of OOIDA. OOIDA has established standing to bring suit on behalf of the owner-operators who signed agreements with Arctic and D&A."