Following a five-day jury trial, a federal district court in Minneapolis has awarded $254,628 in back wages and liquidated damages to 21 drivers after the US Department of Labor (DOL) determined their employer, a non-emergency medical transportation company, misclassified them as independent contractors denying them overtime pay. Issued on June 27, 2023, the judgment in US District Court for the District of Minnesota is the latest step in the department’s effort to recover wages and damages from Alpha & Omega USA Inc. — doing business as Travelon Transportation — and owner Viktor Cernatinskij for the affected employees. The court order follows a June 16, 2023, jury finding that the drivers are not independent contractors but instead employees as they have no profit or loss, were integral to Travelon’s business, and were controlled by the company. The department filed suit against the Eden Prairie employer after they refused to comply with the findings of an investigation by its Wage and Hour Division that found the company’s misclassification led to minimum, overtime and other violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
