It’s been a roller coaster two weeks for gig economy companies. On April 29, the U.S. Department of Labor handed gig economy companies a nice outcome by issuing an opinion letter confirming that typical gig workers are,...more
5/15/2019
/ ABC Test ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Relations ,
Misclassification ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Uber
There’s no way to sugarcoat this one. Yesterday the 9th Circuit handed a big loss to gig economy companies by concluding that last year’s Dynamex decision from the California Supreme Court and its wide-reaching ABC test...more
In a major positive development for gig economy businesses, the U.S. Department of Labor issued an opinion letter yesterday confirming that certain workers providing work for a virtual marketplace company are, indeed,...more
Great news for gig economy businesses from an Illinois federal court: a judge recently ruled that Grubhub’s delivery drivers were not operating in “interstate commerce,” and therefore were not excluded from the company’s...more
4/16/2019
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Employment Contract ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Gig Economy ,
GrubHub ,
Independent Contractors ,
Interstate Commerce ,
Misclassification ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
New Prime v Oliveira ,
Transportation Industry
Last week, we shared with you the news of Uber’s proposed $20 million settlement to resolve a long-running misclassification claim – the parties agreed to the deal, and they just needed the approval of a federal court judge....more
When the news broke yesterday that Uber had agreed to pay a group of drivers $20 million to settle a long-running misclassification claim, you could be forgiven for thinking that the deal sounded like a massive blow to the...more
The $100 million settlement announced Monday by a transportation company to resolve a long-running misclassification claim might be the direct result of a January Supreme Court decision, and might be a troubling harbinger of...more
3/13/2019
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Commercial Truck Drivers ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employment Contract ,
Exceptions ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Independent Contractors ,
Motion to Compel ,
New Prime v Oliveira ,
Question of Arbitrability ,
Reaffirmation ,
SCOTUS
Regular readers of this blog know about the Grubhub gig economy misclassification litigation. The quick version: Grubhub squared off with a former driver, Raef Lawson, in the nation’s first-ever gig economy misclassification...more
3/4/2019
/ ABC Test ,
Appeals ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Employee Definition ,
Gig Economy ,
GrubHub ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Wage and Hour
You can have the best independent contractor agreement in the world. You can hire the best gig economy lawyers in the country (ask us, we have some ideas) to draft the absolute crown jewel of a document for you, capturing the...more
2/27/2019
/ ADEA ,
Age Discrimination ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Economic Realities Test ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Race Discrimination ,
Title VII
After the Supreme Court ruled a few weeks ago that independent contractors working “in interstate commerce” were exempt from arbitration pacts due to a broad interpretation of the Federal Arbitration Act (New Prime v....more
2/20/2019
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Employment Contract ,
Exceptions ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Motion to Compel ,
New Prime v Oliveira ,
Question of Arbitrability ,
Reaffirmation ,
SCOTUS
I recently wrote about the January 25 decision from the National Labor Relations Board that makes it easier for businesses to classify their workers as independent contractors (SuperShuttle DFW, Inc.). In a nutshell, now that...more
In a significant ruling which will benefit companies, the National Labor Relations Board on January 25th, revised the test it uses for determining whether workers are employees or independent contractors by making it easier...more
My colleagues Andy Scott and Felix Digilov reported on last week’s Supreme Court decision that rejected a trucking company’s effort to force its drivers to arbitrate their wage and hour claims against the company, despite the...more
1/23/2019
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Commercial Truck Drivers ,
Employment Contract ,
Exceptions ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Motion to Compel ,
New Prime v Oliveira ,
Question of Arbitrability ,
Reaffirmation ,
SCOTUS
The next shot has been fired in the long-running misclassification dispute between plaintiff Raef Lawson and gig economy giant Grubhub, as the company filed its Answering Brief with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals late...more
1/11/2019
/ ABC Test ,
Appeals ,
Appellate Briefs ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Gig Economy ,
GrubHub ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Code ,
Lawson ,
Misclassification ,
Reimbursements ,
Retroactive Application
The first-ever national misclassification case brought against Uber has now been put to bed. A federal court judge in North Carolina yesterday gave her blessing on a $1.3 million settlement wrapping up the litigation, handing...more
1/4/2019
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Class Action ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Uber ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Wage and Hour
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court just agreed to weigh in on a question that could prove critical to the growth—or stagnation—of the gig work labor pool: does performing gig work in between full-time jobs disqualify a worker...more
On the eve of the holidays, gig businesses got a gift in the form of a ruling from a Massaschusetts federal court where a clickwrap agreement was held to be sufficient to bind a worker to an arbitration clause. The ruling in...more
12/24/2018
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Clickwrap Agreements ,
Dismissals ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Lyft ,
Misclassification ,
Terms and Conditions ,
Terms of Service ,
Wage and Hour
One of my favorite workplace law reporters, Tyrone Richardson of Bloomberg Law, had two stories in the past week addressing the issue of Congress and the gig economy. They present two sides of the same coin when it comes to...more
A recent decision from a federal court in California shows that there is a simple three-step process to follow if you want to ensure that your gig workers are found to be subject to your arbitration provisions. The judge’s...more
December 3 was the first day of the new legislative session in California, the first day that members could introduce bills for the 2019-2020 legislative session. If the first day is any indication, there is one issue that...more
Last week was a bad week for gig economy companies in Oregon. It wasn’t just the post-holiday malaise that so many suffer from after having to return to work following a long, relaxing weekend that probably included eating...more
12/6/2018
/ Back Wages ,
BOLI ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Economic Realities Test ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Liquidated Damages ,
Minimum Wage ,
Misclassification ,
Over-Time ,
Rate of Pay ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Wage and Hour
We’ve been expecting this since August, when the New York City Council passed a proposal establishing that ride-sharing driver should earn a minimum rate of pay, the first such minimum wage in the nation. Today, the other...more
The Grubhub misclassification battle, which has dominated gig economy headlines for the past year or so, has taken another interesting turn. An Uber driver has jumped into the fray, offering his opinion about why the 9th...more
11/21/2018
/ ABC Test ,
Amicus Briefs ,
Appeals ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Gig Economy ,
GrubHub ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Retroactive Application ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Uber
Sure, the monetary portion of the settlement—$10 million to a class of approximately 400 Uber software engineers and over $2.6M in attorneys’ fees—is pretty eye-opening. But perhaps the more significant part of the settlement...more
11/16/2018
/ Attorney's Fees ,
Class Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Diversity ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
National Origin Discrimination ,
Race Discrimination ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Software Developers ,
Uber
The first-ever trial on the gig economy misclassification to reach a judicial merits determination has now turned into the first-ever appeal on gig economy misclassification. And late Friday evening, the plaintiff seeking to...more