Bimbo Bakeries Faces Setbacks in Drivers’ Misclassification Case

Bimbo Bakeries USA Inc. lost its bid to end allegations of misclassifying drivers who distribute its baked goods as contractors when they’re really employees, and federal law preempts its unjust enrichment counterclaim, a Vermont federal judge said Tuesday.

The bakery wholesaler and a related company, Bimbo Foods Bakeries Distribution LLC, failed to show that Bimbo’s payments to the drivers can’t be classified as wages under state law, making judgment on the pleadings inappropriate for that claim, Judge William K. Sessions III said.

If the distributors sell products at prices Bimbo sets, then they “function as intermediaries—in other words, employees ...