As March Madness gets underway, a California federal judge has called a flagrant foul and ejected the trucking industry from its ongoing battle to challenge Assembly Bill No. 5 (“AB5”)....more
The U.S. Supreme Court recently denied the California Trucking Association's (CTA) petition for certiorari related to a case involving federal preemption of California Assembly Bill 5 (AB-5), a law that changed the legal...more
In a brief one-line order, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the California Trucking Association’s petition to review a lower court ruling holding that federal law does not preempt California’s independent contractor law. The...more
Unfortunately, today, June 30, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a deeply disappointing loss to the transportation industry and supply chain interests throughout the country by declining to review the California Trucking...more
The transportation and logistics industry has been widely anticipating a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court as to whether or not it will accept for review two very significant cases involving the scope of the Federal...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
On November 15, 2021, the Supreme Court of the United States issued an order concerning the California Trucking Association’s (CTA) challenge to California’s independent contractor law, Assembly Bill (AB) 5. The Supreme...more
For decades, the practice of motor carriers arranging for freight to be transported by independent owner-operators—i.e., independent contractors who drive their own trucks—has been ubiquitous. However, this practice is now...more
In a previous post, we talked about California shifting gears to the so-called “ABC test” for determining whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor in a law called “AB-5.” Compared to California’s previous...more
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, in California Trucking Association v. Bonta, has reversed the preliminary injunction staying enforcement of AB 5 (now Labor Code § 2775). ...more
Originally published on WhoIsMyEmployee.com - May 3rd, 2021. Have you heard of Schrödinger’s cat? It’s not a real cat, like Felix or Brian Setzer. It’s a hypothetical, seemingly impossible cat that exists only in the world of...more
On April 28, 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that the application of California’s Assembly Bill 5 (“AB5”) to motor carriers is not preempted by the Federal Aviation Administration...more
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held today that the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (“FAAAA”) does not preempt application of California’s Assembly Bill 5 (“AB 5”), codified as amended at Labor...more
In 2020, a California district court granted a preliminary injunction to prevent enforcement of Assembly Bill 5 (“AB 5”) against motor carriers operating within California. AB 5 codified the judge-made “ABC test” for...more
The vast majority of class action litigation in the logistics industry over the past quarter, and indeed the last few years, has been focused on the issue of worker misclassification. In particular, as state legislatures...more
In November 2020, a California state appeals court ruled in People of the State of California v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County and Cal Cartage Transportation Express, LLC that the Federal Aviation Administration...more
Since its introduction on September 18, 2019, Assembly Bill 5 (AB 5) has caused confusion and controversy, and has sparked fervent opposition across California, as it codifies the common law “ABC Test” used for determining...more
In the latest Chapter of the continuing saga of whether the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (FAAAA) of 1994 preempts either California’s expanded Dynamex “ABC” test set forth in AB 5 or the recent statutory...more
The legal landscape surrounding independent contractor relationships in California continues to evolve swiftly....more
Introduction: The PRO Act Overall - Early last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the “Protecting the Right to Organize Act,” H.R.2474 (“PRO Act”), which would fundamentally shift various important...more
As we have written here, the day before California’s controversial AB 5 was set to go into effect, U.S. District Court Judge Roger Benitez issued a temporary restraining order to block enforcement of the law as to...more
For decades, the trucking industry has used owner-operators to provide the transportation of property in interstate commerce. Assembly Bill 5, which went into effect Jan. 1, as set out in Labor Code Section 2750.3, threatens...more
In California Trucking Association, et al. v. Xavier Becerra, et al.,1 U.S. District Court Judge Roger T. Benitez issued a preliminary injunction on Jan. 16, 2020, enjoining the State of California from enforcing the ABC test...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: A federal court has granted a preliminary injunction blocking the State of California from enforcing AB 5 against motor carriers. The court provided a fulsome analysis demonstrating that the Federal...more
A highly anticipated decision granting a preliminary injunction preventing California from applying its new independent contractor test to motor carriers was issued by Senior U.S. District Judge Roger T. Benitez on January...more