To All,
This morning, U.S. District Court Judge England issued an order dismissing our complaint in the Dynamex lawsuit without leave to amend. This is significant because it means he believes there are no additional facts that we could possibly allege that would state a cognizable claim; his ruling is based on his interpretation of the law. This sets up an immediate appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit on pure questions of law:
- Whether F4A preemption applies to a rule like Dynamex;
- Whether FMCSA regulations are so encompassing as to preempt state law
- Our dormant commerce clause argument.
The judge’s decision made it clear that our complaint clearly sets forth questions of law regarding federal preemption of the Dynamex rule. The case sets up the question of how a trucking company can use independent trucking contractors without violating the B-prong of the A-B-C test. There were no factual deficiencies in our complaint. We believe that recent Ninth Circuit decisions postdating the filing of our complaint (like CTA v Su case) give us an opening for that court to reevaluate prior Ninth Circuit decisions regarding F4A preemption. While the judge felt constrained by prior Ninth Circuit precedent (like Dilts) we are looking forward to our legal arguments being heard on appeal. We will be perfecting the appeal shortly and remain committed to taking this question to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.
Lee Brown
