Gaines Motor Lines to Pay Fired Drivers $262500 Settlement

Gaines Motor Lines has recently agreed to pay four of its former drivers $262,500 as a settlement for firing the drivers after they had participated in an FMCSA inspection audit which revealed log violations at  the Gaines Motor Lines headquarters in Hickory, NC.  OSHA originally had ordered the carrier to pay $1.7 million to the drivers in November, 2013, which the carrier had appealed. A mediator was used to agree upon the new settlement amount, which does not include punitive damages but does include compensatory damages and back pay with some interest. OSHA and FMCSA will collaborate to work on cases like this in the future to help protect whistle blowers in situations such as this. You can read more by clicking here.