One of the most important legal developments last month is a new lawsuit filed by registered nurses against a leading health care system alleging that they have been misclassified as independent contractors instead of...more
Two cases reported below in our review of legal developments in February 2024 address reclassification of independent contractors. The first case is one in which a state and county sought enforcement of California’s strict...more
In early 2015, New Jersey borrowed the state’s strict ABC test under its unemployment law and adopted it as the new test for independent contractor status under its wage laws. That change in the law was not an act by the...more
We have had the opportunity, in the course of our independent contractor practice, to represent clients in over 75 diverse industries including some in rather esoteric businesses. These clients have included musical bands,...more
Last month, Illinois became the first state to enact legislation requiring companies using independent contractors to offer contracts to ICs with prescribed terms and to pay such freelance contractors all of their fees within...more
We report on three case developments during July 2023 that raise the question whether last-mile, logistics, and delivery companies alleged to have misclassified drivers as independent contractors can compel arbitration of...more
We report below on four case developments during June 2023 in the area of independent contractor misclassification: two of which are centered on Illinois. That state has one of the most stringent statutory tests for...more
Three of the five court cases of note in this monthly update involve California’s Assembly Bill 5, which has exponentially increased litigation involving independent contractor misclassification in that state. That...more
Ever since the New Jersey Supreme Court issued its 2015 decision in the Sleepy’s case, establishing an ABC test for wage and hour lawsuits, class action lawyers have targeted companies operating in that state for IC...more
Earlier today, the Biden Administration’s Labor Department issued a proposed regulation that seeks to define the worker classification test for independent contractor or employee status under the Fair Labor Standards Act...more
The Biden Administration’s Labor Department earlier today issued a proposed regulation that seeks to define the worker classification test for independent contractor or employee status under the Fair Labor Standards Act...more
The U.S. Labor Department has been playing musical chairs in its approach to classifying workers as independent contractors or employees under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act since the middle of the Obama Administration....more
Does the strict ABC test set forth in the Massachusetts independent contractor law apply to the relationship between a franchisor and its franchisee where the franchisor must also comply with the FTC’s Franchise Rule? That...more
The highlights of independent contractor legal developments in November 2021 focus on interstate transportation workers. Questions addressed by the courts last month included whether ride-sharing workers classified as...more
The first three cases reported below regarding legal developments in August 2021 have four common denominators: the defendants are all large gig economy companies; plaintiffs’ class action counsel is the same; the lawsuits...more
9/15/2021
/ ABC Test ,
Arbitration ,
Class Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Lyft ,
Misclassification ,
Wage and Hour
Earlier today, federal judge Dale Fischer in California issued a decision after a lengthy non-jury trial earlier this year, concluding that four 7-Eleven franchisees had been properly classified as independent contractors and...more
April 2021 was a meaningful month for two industries that are hardly strangers to lawsuits involving the status of workers as independent contractors. A federal district court in the District of Columbia issued an extremely...more
5/12/2021
/ ABC Test ,
Arbitration ,
Class Action ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (FAAAA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Motor Carriers ,
Popular ,
Ridesharing
Micro-mobility company Lime, which provides electric scooter and bike sharing to customers through its mobile app, has been targeted by plaintiffs’ lawyers in class action and representative lawsuits attacking one of the core...more
January 2021 may well be remembered in the independent contractor area of law as the “not so fast” month. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals told lower courts “not so fast” when it comes to certifying collective actions. ...more
November 2020 was a superb month for ride-sharing and app-based delivery companies and for President-Elect Biden, but was far less favorable to professional sports leagues, interpreting and translation companies, oilfield...more
12/10/2020
/ ABC Test ,
Biden Administration ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (FAAAA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Minimum Wage ,
Misclassification ,
Over-Time ,
Preemption ,
Ridesharing ,
Wage and Hour
In October, a diverse group of industries experienced adverse court rulings defending independent contractor classification class and collective action cases. Two cases involved courts granting conditional certification of...more
11/10/2020
/ ABC Test ,
Arbitration ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (FAAAA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Insurance Agents ,
Insurance Industry ,
Misclassification ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Wage and Hour
The results are in. Voters in California don’t want their rideshare and app-based delivery services to change. By an overwhelming majority, Proposition 22 was approved by California voters. Essentially, that means that...more
Many independent contractors complained of dire consequences when Assembly Bill 5 (“AB5”) became effective in California on January 1, 2020. Following intense lobbying and public relations campaigns, independent contractors...more
Last month presented a clash between the enactment of a new version of the most restrictive state law test in the nation for independent contractor status and the issuance of a proposed federal regulation that would create...more
10/9/2020
/ ABC Test ,
Class Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Preemption ,
Wage and Hour
Many independent contractors complained of dire consequences after Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) became effective in California on January 1, 2020. Following intense lobbying and public relations campaigns, independent contractors in...more