Most class action cases of independent contractor misclassification are brought against corporate entities. Yet many laws also permit plaintiffs to sue company executives or managers for personal liability in such cases. In...more
Direct sellers and door-to-door salespersons are frequently classified as independent contractors – and that classification is increasingly under attack, both by class action lawyers and the U.S. Department of Labor, as...more
Today President Biden announced that he is nominating Dr. David Weil as his Wage and Hour Administrator, the same person who served in that capacity during the Obama presidency. During the Trump Administration, Dr. Weil...more
The U.S. Department of Labor today issued a rule yesterday that withdraws the Trump Administration’s regulation setting forth a test to classify workers as independent contractors or employees under the federal Fair Labor...more
Earlier today, the U.S. Department of Labor formally issued a rule that withdraws the Trump Administration’s regulation addressing the test for classifying workers as independent contractors or employees under the federal...more
Immediately following the issuance of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in New Prime v. Oliveira on January 15, 2019, we stated in a blog post that “even if an individual or group of workers is excluded [from arbitration]...more
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
Today, one day before the end of President Trump’s Administration, the U.S. Department of Labor issued an opinion letter that certain owner-operator drivers that provide services to a transportation and logistics company are...more
Today, one day before the end of the Trump Administration, the Labor Department issued a series of opinion letters, one of which concluded that certain distributors who resell to retail outlets food products they purchase...more
On the day the U.S. Department of Labor issued a proposed regulation regarding the classification status of independent contractors, we reported here that the regulation, once finalized, would be “much ado about (almost)...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
President-elect Joe Biden’s campaign issued a comprehensive labor plan that seems to focus on empowering unions. But while the title of this campaign platform is “The Biden Plan for Strengthening Worker Organizing, Collective...more
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
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
While New York employers continue to navigate the daily challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, they must remain cognizant of updates to New York laws and their effective dates. This QuickStudy focuses on the enactment of New...more
Last month’s legal news in the area of independent contractor misclassification and compliance was dominated by two key arbitration decisions by federal circuit courts: one that compelled arbitration of an IC...more
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
Two recent federal appellate court decisions struck down Amazon’s arbitration clause in its agreements with workers who deliver its packages to Amazon customers. Those two rulings have created great concern for businesses in...more
We highlight in this past month’s news update two class action settlements entered into by bakery companies alleged to have misclassified product distributors as independent contractors. One of those baked goods companies has...more
May 2020 was not a busy month for the filing of new independent contractor misclassification lawsuits, as some courts were closed for new filings and many lawyers were working remotely. But five cases came to our attention...more
The last two months have consumed all of us with matters related to COVID-19. This public health emergency has created an anomalous situation virtually no one could have foreseen: legislation being passed at the federal level...more
The New York Court of Appeals today issued a decision involving the independent contractor status of a Postmates courier. As will become readily apparent by a description of the case history our “Takeaways” below, the...more
This past month was the first month we can recall where there were no legal developments of note involving class action independent contractor misclassification lawsuits, which have become increasingly prevalent. Instead,...more