Opinion ID: 784946
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Aeroground

Text: 47 Air France contracted with Aeroground for cargo handling services. Aeroground was paid primarily based on the amount of cargo it handled, and not for specific employee time. Aeroground serviced a number of carriers, and many of its employees were cross-utilized as needed to serve the needs of its different clients. The contract required Aeroground to dedicate a certain number of employees to work exclusively for Air France, including one dedicated supervisor, two customer service agents, and five warehouse personnel. Aeroground had discretion, however, in scheduling these employees and could transfer them from one client account to another, so long as the appropriate minimum number of employees were assigned to service Air France. These employees were a small fraction of Aeroground employees at the San Francisco location. 4 48 Air France also required a minimum number of cross-utilized warehouse employees — i.e., employees who did not work exclusively on the Air France account. If additional employees were required to perform the work (above and beyond the contractually specified dedicated and cross-utilized employees), Aeroground was obligated to provide however many employees were necessary to fulfill its duties, but there was no additional payment for the services. 49 Aeroground owned and supplied all equipment necessary for cargo handling, such as forklifts, scales and pallet jacks. Aeroground also provided its own warehouse and office space. Aeroground had responsibility for hiring, firing, promoting, and disciplining employees. Air France provided some training to Aeroground employees on the Air France computer system and other training to ensure compliance with applicable safety regulations in the United States and France, if the employees had not already received such training. There was heavy turnover of Aeroground employees, especially warehouse personnel. There were also three changes in Aeroground supervisors during its contractual relationship with Air France. 50 One Air France employee, Marc Richard, worked full time at the Aeroground cargo facility as the Air France Cargo Operations Manager. He was responsible for assuring the quality of services provided by Aeroground, and interacted with the Aeroground supervisor if problems arose, usually at a monthly meeting with the supervisor. When asked if monitoring quality of service meant supervising Aeroground employees, Richard initially responded that's right, but then went on to qualify his statement: 51 I would say supervise what they do is different. I'm not a crusader after people. I check what they do. It's a different story. I don't monitor their schedule. I don't monitor if they are sick or on vacation. This is done by their supervisor. I just want to make sure that my operation is covered.