Sikh Coalition Sues CA DMV Over Cancelled Truck Driver Licenses

 Photo: File pix Sikh Coalition

India-West Staff Reporter

OAKLAND, CA – The Sikh Coalition, on December 22, along with co counsel from the Asian Law Caucus and the law firm Weil Gotshal and Manges, has filed a class action lawsuit against the California Department of Motor Vehicles, accusing the agency of unlawfully cancelling more than 20,000 commercial drivers licenses held by non domiciled immigrant truck drivers.

The lawsuit challenges the CA DMV’s decision to revoke the licenses over what the plaintiffs describe as minor clerical discrepancies.

The case has been brought on behalf of five affected commercial drivers as named plaintiffs, along with the Jakara Movement, and seeks relief for thousands of drivers who say they have been abruptly pushed out of work without a meaningful opportunity to fix paperwork issues.

According to the complaint, the CA DMV began issuing cancellation notices in November to drivers whose documentation contained minor inconsistencies, including mismatched expiration dates between their commercial driver’s licenses and federal work permits.

The action followed pressure from the federal government, but the lawsuit argues that the state agency failed to provide any clear process for drivers to correct the discrepancies before losing their licenses.

“The state of California must help these 20000 drivers because, at the end of the day, the clerical errors threatening their livelihoods are of the CA DMV’s own making,” said Munmeeth Kaur, legal director of the Sikh Coalition. “If the court does not issue a stay, we will see a devastating wave of unemployment that harms individual families, as well as the destabilization of supply chains on which we all rely.”

Kaur added that many of the affected drivers have spent years building careers in trucking, only to face sudden economic hardship through no fault of their own.

The plaintiffs argue that the mass cancellations not only harm immigrant families but could also disrupt supply chains that depend heavily on commercial trucking.