June 2010 -- Douglas Walls was a driver working for a local trucking company. He was in the process of purchasing his big rig in a lease-to-own arrangement and had paid $5,000 of the $12,000 cost to the employer. One Friday, Mr. Walls was pre-loading the truck for the following Monday's run when a supervisor asked for a word. Citing a verbal warning on Mr. Walls' record, the supervisor said the company was severing their lease-to-own agreement - and keeping Mr. Walls' $5,000. Shortly after that incident, Mr. Walls was let go.
Mr. Walls approached Legal Aid, and his case was handled by Stephanie Jackson, managing attorney of the Health-Education-Work-Income-Immigration Unit. Ms. Jackson, who oversees Legal Aid's Wage Project, explains: "The Wage Project has several goals, including working to preserve rights for low income workers, removing barriers to employment, and ensuring self-sufficiency for our clients. Mr. Walls is exactly the type of client that the project is designed to help. When Mr. Walls came to us, he was facing a significant barrier to his employment. His truck, which is the primary tool needed to earn income as an independent truck driver, had been wrongfully taken from him."
Legal Aid sued the trucking company for breach of contract and unjust enrichment. As soon as the complaint was filed, the trucking company agreed to a settlement: they slashed the remaining cost of the truck in half. The company also gave Mr. Walls several months to pay off the rest of the truck, which now sits in Mr. Walls' East Cleveland driveway. Mr. Walls found new work with another trucking company: he now uses his truck to haul steel coils around the country, sometimes driving as far as Texas.
Ms. Jackson adds, "The beauty of the case is that we did not simply provide Mr. Walls with a fish, but obtained the tools Mr. Walls needed to fish for a lifetime."