Fired cab driver wins ruling classifying him as employee

A 1st District Court of Appeal panel has reversed a San Francisco County judge’s decision denying back wages to a plaintiff in an employee classification case.

Superior Court Judge James Robertson III had denied plaintiff Darnice Linton’s claim for unpaid wages against DeSoto Cab Company Inc., ruling that he was not an employee but an independent contractor.

But the appellate court panel overturned Robertson’s decision, ruling that he did not properly analyze and apply similar cases.

Justice Robert L. Dondero, writing for the majority, wrote that the key issue was how much control DeSoto Cab exercised over Linton. The answer, he wrote, was that it was considerable even though the plaintiff had a fair amount of freedom on the job.

“Significantly, the evidence suggests defendants retained ultimate control, namely, the right to terminate the employee at will,” Dondero wrote. Linton v. DeSoto Cab Company Inc., 2017 DJDAR 9703.

Linton signed a lease with Desoto Cab Company in 2008, agreeing to pay a gate fee of $200 per shift to operate the cab. The money he earned from fares and tips would all be his to keep, which is standard practice for cab companies, according to Charles Rotter, an operations manager for Luxor Cab in San Francisco.

Linton was terminated in 2012 shortly after he was accused of stealing a passenger’s credit card information and having an accident a year before, according to the ruling. He filed a claim with the state labor commissioner’s office, claiming he was misclassified as an independent contractor and owed back wages in addition to reimbursement for gate fees.

Dondero wrote that Linton’s firing based on an allegation that was never fully investigated supports his claim.

“The court determined that several relevant cases, including the Supreme Court’s seminal case S.G. Borello & Sons, Inc. v. Department of Industrial Relations (Borello), are not controlling under the circumstances at issue here,” Dondero wrote. “We conclude the [district] court erred in its legal analysis.”

Shannon Seibert, an attorney with Seibert & Bautista who represebnts DeSoto Cab, said her client has not decided whether to appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court or ask the appellate court for a rehearing.

M. Colleen Ryan, an attorney with the state Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, could not be reached for comment Friday.