Mercer Times

Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL) Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo announced today the filing of a lawsuit against Jersey Tractor Trailer Training, Inc. (JTTT) for allegedly misclassifying its driving instructors as independent contractors instead of employees.

The complaint, filed in Superior Court, claims that JTTT misclassified at least 30 instructors who teach commercial driver’s license (CDL) courses. The State seeks to stop this practice and recover back wages, penalties, damages, and fines.

Misclassification involves treating employees as independent contractors, which denies them rights such as minimum wage, overtime pay, workers’ compensation, unemployment benefits, temporary disability leave, earned sick leave, job-protected family leave, equal pay protections, and safeguards against discrimination. This practice also places law-abiding employers at a competitive disadvantage.

“Misclassification is a form of corporate cheating, plain and simple,” said Attorney General Platkin. “It hurts workers and harms other businesses that comply with the rules.”

“We are out of patience for employers that exploit workers with this egregious behavior,” added Labor Commissioner Asaro-Angelo. “New Jersey laws are clear; employee misclassification is illegal.”

The seven-count complaint alleges that between 2018 and 2022, JTTT violated several New Jersey labor laws including failure to pay overtime and maintain records of hours worked and wages paid. The lawsuit also claims JTTT failed to provide earned sick leave timely or contribute to various state funds such as the Unemployment Compensation Fund.

The lawsuit requests an order halting misclassification practices and seeks a ruling declaring the instructors as employees while awarding unpaid wages and damages.

An NJDOL investigation initiated in 2021 found that JTTT controlled work hours and schedules for instructors while dictating where and how lessons were conducted. Most instructors provided CDL instruction services exclusively for JTTT without separate business insurance or federal tax ID numbers.

Specific allegations include that JTTT created work schedules at its headquarters; required Saturday work; had hiring and firing authority; set payment rates; provided uniforms; supplied teaching materials; required classroom and on-road instruction using company vehicles branded with JTTT’s logo; managed student scheduling; obtained business leads; and handled all billing related to CDL courses.

This case marks one of the first brought under legislation enacted in 2021 enhancing the power to combat misclassification by filing suit in New Jersey Superior Court.

NJDOL is represented by Deputy Attorney General Nadya Comas under the supervision of Labor Enforcement Section Chief Eve E. Weissman along with Assistant Attorney General Mayur P. Saxena and Deputy Director Sara Gregory from the Office of the Attorney General’s Division of Law.