McMurray et al v. R&L Carriers Shared Services LLC

On March 20, 2026, a class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio against R&L Carriers Shared Services LLC, a major freight and logistics company. Lead plaintiffs Michael McMurray, James T. Henderson, and Sarah L. Ortiz, representing over 1,200 current and former dockworkers and dispatchers, allege systemic race and age discrimination in promotion and compensation practices. The complaint further asserts that the company willfully misclassified certain employees to avoid paying overtime wages under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The plaintiffs claim that when they internally reported these disparities, they faced unlawful retaliation including demotions and constructive discharge. The case is part of a growing wave of "big logistics" labor scrutiny.

As of the filing date on March 20, 2026, the court has just granted conditional certification for the collective action under the FLSA. The defendant has filed a motion to dismiss the discrimination claims, which remains pending. No settlement or final judgment has been reached.

The central dispute is whether R&L Carriers systematically denied promotions and equal pay to minority and older workers, and whether the company deliberately misclassified employees as exempt from overtime to suppress labor costs, thereby violating federal anti-discrimination and wage laws.

The case has intensified public scrutiny on labor practices within the U.S. trucking and logistics sector. Advocacy groups cite it as a landmark example of intersectional workplace inequality in a historically male-dominated industry, fueling broader calls for federal audits of systemic wage suppression and discriminatory promotion pipelines in supply-chain corporations.