CHICAGO — A former truck driver for Illinois-based Patriot Transport and Expeditor Systems claimed in a lawsuit the companies violated state wage law by misclassifying his position, underpaying him and taking pay deductions without his consent.
According to the Aug. 8 Cook County Circuit Court filing, Zhanat Tlenchiyev and others filed the class action suit against Patriot Transport Inc., Expeditor Systems Inc., Ivan Zabolotovsky and Igor Terletsky, alleging violation of the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act, fraud and inducement, fraudulent misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment and civil conspiracy.
According to the complaint, Tlenchiyev was hired as a "paid per mile" truck driver for the defendants, which are sister companies, in October 2018. Upon taking the job offer, Tlenchiyev was given papers to sign that, according to the suit, he could not understand because of "his limited English language skills." Tlenchiyev said he was paid for only 2,200 miles of driving when he actually drove 4,000 miles. He also said the defendants deducted more than $50 for "repair" and $12 for "scale" from his paycheck and that he lost $2,269 in compensation.
Among the damages sought in the class action are more than $1 million for the plaintiff and putative class members. They are also seeking an order directing defendants to account for all current and past employees' withheld compensation.
Attorney for the plaintiff is Julia Bikbova with Bikbova Law Offices P.C., of Chicago.
Cook County Circuit Court Case No. 2019-CH-9186