A California jury has awarded roughly $52 million to a group of truck drivers and yard workers who alleged they were retaliated against after raising safety, wage and regulatory concerns at Sysco, one of the nation’s largest food-distribution companies.
The verdict stems from a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court against Sysco Riverside Inc. and Sysco Corp., in which multiple plaintiffs accused company managers of fostering a culture of intimidation toward employees who reported unsafe and illegal practices.
Maryann Gallagher, the lead plaintiff attorney in the case, said the size of the verdict reflects how jurors viewed the evidence.
“I think there was overwhelming evidence,” Gallagher told FreightWaves. “There was so much evidence that Sysco was violating the law and these people were complaining and they didn’t do anything about it.”
Sysco said it plans to challenge the verdict. In a statement emailed to FreightWaves, the company said, “Safety and security are top priorities at Sysco Riverside, Inc., as well as Sysco’s other operating sites.”
Sysco added that while it “respect[s] the jury’s time and service,” it “strongly disagree[s] with its findings” and is reviewing the award to determine next steps, “including but not limited to anticipated post-verdict proceedings and an appeal.”
Allegations of unsafe practices
According to court documents, the employees — many of whom had worked at Sysco for years or decades at a location in Riverside, California — raised concerns related to yard safety, excessive working hours, falsified time records, food safety violations and retaliation for contacting regulators, including Cal/OSHA and the Labor Commission.
Houston-based Sysco (NYSE: SYY) is a multinational corporation that sells, markets and distributes food products, foodservice supplies, and equipment to restaurants, healthcare facilities and stadiums.
Sysco directly operates 1,472 power units and employs 1,719 drivers, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The company has 340 distribution centers in 10 countries.
The plaintiffs who worked at the Sysco Riverside facility said they were pressured to move trucks and trailers quickly through crowded yards, sometimes at unsafe speeds, and to maintain tight schedules that prioritized efficiency over safety. They also said they were told to load perishable food into trailers that were not properly refrigerated.
Gallagher said the misconduct described at trial spanned several years.
“It was, at least in our case, from 2016 until 2020 — four years,” she said.
Retaliation claims central to verdict
At the heart of the lawsuit were allegations that Sysco retaliated against workers who refused to participate in or reported those practices. The employees said retaliation included reduced hours, harassment, surveillance, discipline, termination and constructive discharge.
Gallagher said one of the most striking facts for jurors was how the company handled a supervisor accused of leading the retaliation.
“After all these people complained, it continued to go on, and they promoted him to a director — and he’s still the warehouse director there,” she said.
What the drivers wanted
Gallagher said the plaintiffs were motivated by more than personal compensation.
“There were two important factors,” she said. “It was getting them compensation for what they went through, and the second factor was stopping this behavior at Sysco. They didn’t want other truck drivers to have to go through what they went through.”
The jury found that Sysco violated California Labor Code Section 1102.5, the state’s whistleblower protection statute, which prohibits retaliation against employees who report or oppose illegal activity — even when complaints are made internally.
“In California, you don’t have to go to a government agency to be protected,” Gallagher said. “If you complain to your employer and they don’t take steps or they retaliate against you, then that’s illegal.”
Message for drivers and employers
Gallagher said she hopes the verdict sends a clear warning to employers across transportation and logistics.
“I know it’s scary to stand up and speak out,” she said. “But it’s the only way it’s going to stop.”
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As a driver for sysco I highly doubt that those things went on. I have been in and around yards and they are all about safety and hos. They have had Electronic logs company wide in the US for as long as i can remember. I think the drivers were just ■■■■ hurt they had to work longer hrs. I do remember having 1000 case loads a day but heck that made the day go by and man were the checks great now we are lucky to get 800 cases a day. But its trucking yiu have your ups and downs. You just gotta know how to pull your pants up and get to work. As far as the equipment there was a stall on new equipment due to covid but our oldest truck in our yard is a 2022 i believe and our trailers are in pretty good shape as well. Best local job I have ever worked.
My son worked for them, and from what I’ve heard ,I just have to wonder if you were compensated to type what you did. This is a long time coming and just a sliver of what’s coming for them across the Nation.
Quote: “I know it’s scary to stand up and speak out,” she said. “But it’s the only way it’s going to stop.”… That is not what makes people stop. It may be what gets them caught, but certainly not what makes them stop. What makes them stop is removing them from such positions that they abuse. Those managers simply mismanage and are not mature enough to hold such a position. Prioritizing Efficiency over Safety is not Efficient, it is a RISK! They just paid for that risk by getting caught. Like I said, getting caught because of doing something immoral comes down to a lack of good judgement and a lack of ethics. Those managers lacked good judgement and are a risk to the COs bottom line, due to their mismanagement that got the CO to pay for abuse(mismanagement). Now lets look at it from a different point of viwe. Lets say management at a food processing facility do not respect quality control. And they allow unsanitized food to be packed and shipped because it save the Co costs. Then they get invited to eat at a friend of theirs home and it just so happens to be that unsanitized food and they get food poisoning, or their child does. Do you see how small the world is? Where is it that we draw the line to being ignorant and not caring for our own ill judged reasons??? You do not sell yourself, you do not bend to get a promotion or and extra buck. The falw is in the way one thinks and allows themself to behave. We call that undisciplined free will. That is why the next evolutionary move will be to take these companies over. No not even a proxy ■■■■■, that is old school. Simply unite all the laborers upon which that CO depends upon to survive and simply take over the CO. If people UNITE then they can maneuver themselves from laborers to collective entrepreneurs and really get a raise worthwhile. THEN start designing a way to replace yourselves with robotics and AI, rather than having your abusive employers do it to you! You are the backbone of the economy. You simply followed rather than lead. Time you start thinking like a leader. Labor Unions are a thing of the past. You need to pay them to beg for crumbs. The Aquarian age is all about uniting and taking back your power collectively. No more middlemen, no more begging. No more abuse and being pushed around. Are you capable of shifing shoes? You guys(masses) eat the stuff they ship!!! Without you, they have nothing to ship, much less someone to even ship it! The clock is ticking! Time to wake up! Or are you going to wait for them to replace you with the machines you can replace yourselves with? In my humble opinion…