Court Certifies Class Against Triton Logistics

A federal judge has certified a class action lawsuit against Illinois-based motor carrier Triton Logistics, Inc. The plaintiff who brought the case, Carlos Roman, is a former commercial truck driver. He alleges that Triton misclassified him and other "company drivers" as independent contractors, withheld wages, took improper deductions from their pay, and failed to reimburse them work-related expenses, all in violation ofthe Illinois Wage and Payment Collection Act (IWPCA)

The class includes all drivers who worked for Triton in Illinois as company drivers and who were classified as independent contractors between October 19, 2013, to April 16, 2025.

Judge Manish S. Shah, presiding for the federal District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, ruled that the case satisfied all the requirements for class certification, including numerosity, commonality, typicality, and adequacy. The court found that Triton’s standardized practices and policies could be evaluated using common evidence, making class action the superior method for resolving the claims.

Triton argued that the plaintiff and its other drivers wanted to be classified as an independent contractor and never intended to be an employee. The court rejected this argument, stating that under the IWPCA, employment classification is determined by the employer's conduct, not the employee's acceptance of the classification.

The court also rejected Triton's argument that determining whether the drivers' pay deductions violated the IWPCA would require individual adjudication of each driver's contract and reimbursement requests. As the court explained, the legality of Triton's deduction policies could be determined using common evidence, such as the policies themselves, without needing to examine individual drivers' behavior.

Roman and the certified class are represented by Hillary Schwab, Rachel Smit, and Brant Casavant of Fair Work and James Zouras of Stephan Zouras LLC. The court's order on class certification is available below.

• Memorandum Opinion and Order