Legal Question in Employment Law in California
Hi,
I am working for a company. We needed drivers and we hired three temp drivers from Labor Ready. Supposedly Labor Ready should send us the people with valid driver licenses. One of the drivers was stopped by cops and he had a suspended driver license. We have lost our corporate account with Dollar Thrifty Rent a Car Co. because the car was belong to the rental company. I want to know if Labor Ready is liable for sending people with no valid driver license to driving jobs?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Was there a written agreement or contract between the company and Labor Ready? I would assume that Labor Ready must provide drivers with valid licenses. In addition, what measures did your company take to assure that the drivers had valid licenses before allowing them to drive any vehicle? Did the company ask for proof of a valid license or did the company rely solely on the assurances of Labor Ready? Did the company rent the vehicles from Dollar Rent a Car? If so, surely the company was obligated to assure that only valid drivers drove any vehicles rented from Dollar Rent a Car. Wasn't the company obligated to identify the actual drivers of the vehicles to Dollar upon renting the vehicles? In other words, upon renting the vehicle, the rentee must provide Dollar with the names and drivers' license information of all persons who will drive the vehicles. At that point (assuming the company was the rentee), the company was responsible for assuring that all drivers had valid, current drivers' licenses.