Amazon Beats Class Action, but Joint Employer Issue Remains (1)

Amazon.com Inc. is free from class claims in a delivery driver’s lawsuit seeking wages, overtime, and relief for other alleged labor violations, but the company didn’t settle a question that could expose it and other major businesses to significant liability.

The California driver can’t seek class status because the proposed class members—current and former joint employees of Amazon and various staffing companies that were subject to the company’s delivery guidelines—didn’t have enough in common, a federal judge ruled Dec. 6.

Judge Maxine M. Chesney of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California also seemed to leave room ...