Six members of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Assn. (OOIDA) filed a federal class-action suit to halt the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) Pre-employment Screening Program (PSP), OOIDA announced today.
The truckers argue in a complaint filed in a U.S. district court in Boston that FMCSA is violating the Federal Privacy Act by unlawfully disseminating reports of driver safety records to potential employers.
According to the complaint, FMCSA is allowed to report only “serious driver-related violations” under PSP and that the information it is releasing goes beyond statutory authority. A PSP record includes a commercial vehicle driver’s five-year crash and three-year inspection history, OOIDA noted.
The lawsuit seeks statutory damages of $1,000 for each driver, and the six plaintiffs will ask the court to certify a class and award statutory damages to all drivers for whom such reports have been prepared.
“FMCSA’s actions in implementing the PSP program demonstrate their deliberate ineptness and disregard for clear statutory limitations,” said Jim Johnston, president of OOIDA.
An FMCSA spokesman declined to respond to the complaint, stating that it is agency policy not to comment on litigation.
