MINNEAPOLIS, MN., October 14, 2026: A former delivery driver for Vadnais Heights-based Timberland Transportation, LLC, doing business as Priority Courier Experts (“Priority”), today filed a class action lawsuit in Ramsey County District Court alleging the company misclassified its drivers as independent contractors when they were, in fact, employees. The case may be the first class action brought under Minnesota’s strengthened worker misclassification statute, Minn. Stat. § 181.722. Halunen Law attorneys Clayton Halunen, Susan Coler, and Tara Jensen represent plaintiff Lamars Allen Hairston and the proposed class.
“Priority’s drivers are the backbone of its business. They carry its name on their uniforms and vans and follow its every instruction, yet the company calls them independent contractors so it can push its costs onto them and skip paying overtime,” said Clayton Halunen, Managing Partner of Halunen Law. “The Legislature strengthened this law precisely to stop that practice. We intend to use it to make sure Priority’s drivers receive what Minnesota law guarantees every employee.”
Hairston drove for Priority from November 2021 until June 2026. According to the complaint, Priority requires its drivers, whom it calls “Fleet Partners,” to sign standardized independent-contractor agreements and to contract through an LLC, even when they personally do all the work. Yet the lawsuit alleges Priority controls nearly every aspect of the job: it dispatches assignments and sets their timing and sequence, tracks drivers by GPS through its app, sets customer prices and driver pay, requires Priority-branded clothing and vehicle markings, and can terminate drivers without cause on seven days’ notice. On one occasion, the complaint states, Priority denied Hairston a day’s work because he wore a non-Priority hat. He was ultimately terminated after being accused of theft for not immediately returning a stapler he had borrowed from a customer, and Priority repossessed the van he had leased through the company.
The complaint alleges that drivers bear the costs of vehicle leases, fuel, insurance, maintenance, uniforms, and equipment, much of it deducted directly from their weekly pay, and receive no overtime premium despite routinely working 10 to 14 hours a day, sometimes six days a week. For one week in April 2026, the complaint estimates that after deductions and expenses, Hairston’s pay fell below Minnesota’s minimum wage. Drivers also receive none of the benefits Priority provides its employees, such as health insurance, paid time off, and a 401(k) match, and are excluded from workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance, and earned sick and safe time.
In 2024, the Minnesota Legislature declared its state policy to prevent employers from misclassifying workers and strengthened the misclassification statute, allowing workers to sue directly for compensatory damages and civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation. The lawsuit seeks to represent all Minnesota drivers Priority classified as independent contractors during the past three years, a group the complaint says likely numbers in the hundreds. It seeks unpaid wages and overtime, reimbursement of expenses, lost benefits, statutory penalties, and a declaration that the drivers are employees under Minnesota law.
About Halunen Law: Offering experienced representation to employees and whistleblowers nationwide, Halunen Law has achieved a reputation as a fearless, tenacious, and successful law firm focused on achieving justice and meaningful results for its clients. See halunenlaw.com.
