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Independent Contractors Appeals

Independent contractors are individuals or entities that perform work for other individuals or entities, but are not employees of those individuals or entities. Whether a worker is an employee or an independent... more +
Independent contractors are individuals or entities that perform work for other individuals or entities, but are not employees of those individuals or entities. Whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor is not always an easy determination. However, due to differences in tax and liability treatment, misclassifying an employee as an independent contractor can have serious consequences. Autonomy is the defining feature of independent contractor arrangements. Independent contractors control the manner and method of how work is performed while payers control the desired result. Control over schedule and number of hours worked, ownership of equipment or tools, permanency of relationship, and acceptance of jobs from multiple entities are all possible factors in determining whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor.   less -
Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

Fourth Circuit’s Steadfast ruling clarifies independent contractor status

The majority of a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has upheld a finding that a medical staffing agency misclassified approximately 1,100 nurses as independent contractors and owed them...more

Bennett Jones LLP

No Common Employer Means No Class Action—Ontario Court of Appeal

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The Ontario Court of Appeal has concluded that a client's influence over a service provider's processes does not establish an employment relationship between the client and the service provider's employees. The plaintiffs in...more

Weber Gallagher Simpson Stapleton Fires &...

Surveillance, Attorney Fees, and Employment Status: Recent 3rd Dept. Decisions

There were three new 3rd Dept. cases of note from yesterday (two workers’ compensation cases and another relevant case): Hurley v. Lawrence School District. This case would seem to be self-evident. The claimant, a special...more

Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC

NC Court of Appeals Clarifies How Insurers’ Duties to Defend and Indemnity Are Triggered in Atypical Employment Relationships

The Court of Appeals’ opinion in N.C. Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co. v. Young, (No. COA24-594) addresses how a court is likely to assess the duty to defend and the duty to indemnify under an insurance contract, and the interplay...more

Goldberg Segalla

Another Win for Professional Employer Organizations at New York Third Department

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Another day, another chapter in the evolving world of New York Workers’ Compensation for Professional Employer Organizations (PEOs). As discussed in prior updates, this decision follows the foundational Third Department...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Alabama Legislature Wraps Up Productive Session on Business Tax Bills

The Alabama Legislature adjourned sine die near midnight on May 14, 2025, with the final legislative meeting day bogged down with filibusters by certain senators. Fortunately, a spate of tax bills had already passed both the...more

Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani

Construction Law Update - First Quarter 2025

GRSM’s Construction Group is pleased to publish the latest issue of our Construction Law Update, a quarterly take on trends of interest to design professionals, contractors, and developers throughout the country....more

Poyner Spruill LLP

Third Circuit Finds “Modicum” of Control Insufficient to Create Employment Relationship

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In order to state a claim for discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), a plaintiff must first demonstrate that he or she had an employment relationship with the defendant.  Although various...more

Conn Maciel Carey LLP

MSHA Announces Temporary Stay of Silica Rule Compliance Deadline for Coal Mining

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In a significant turn of events for the coal mining sector, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has announced a temporary enforcement pause on its stringent respirable crystalline silica regulation. This...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

No Rest for the Weary: The Trump DOL Indicates Yet Another Change to Its Independent Contractor Classification Rule Is on the...

Exactly a year ago, we wrote about the final rule issued by the Biden-era U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) regarding the test for determining whether a worker is an employee covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), or an...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Trump DOL Signals a Back-off from Defending Independent Contractor Rule

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The Trump Administration has asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to postpone oral argument in a lawsuit challenging President Joe Biden’s 2024 independent contractor rule. The U.S. Department of Justice...more

Proskauer - California Employment Law

You Can’t Spell “Aggrieved Employees” Without an “I”: PAGA Claims Cannot be Headless

In yet another attempt to avoid arbitration agreements, plaintiffs’ lawyers in the wake of the blockbuster court decisions in Viking River Cruises, Inc. v. Moriana and Adolph v. Uber Technologies, Inc. began filing so-called...more

Goldberg Segalla

NJ Supreme Court: Contracts are King in Determining Whether Real Estate Agents are Employees or Independent Contractors

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The Supreme Court of New Jersey issued a unanimous decision May 13, clarifying how the employment status of real estate salespersons associated with brokers should be determined. James Kennedy v. Weichert Realtors holds that...more

Littler

Littler Lightbulb: February Appellate Roundup

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This Littler Lightbulb highlights some of the more significant employment law developments at the U.S. Supreme Court and federal courts of appeal in the last month....more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Artificial Intelligence in the Modern Workplace: Safeguarding Source Code Generated with AI Assistance

Generally, an employer owns all rights in software code created by its employee in the scope of their employment. As outlined in the last edition of this series, this general rule typically applies to independent contractors...more

Proskauer - California Employment Law

Gig Workers: 2, California: 0 in Ongoing Fight for Independent Contractor Status

The long-running feud between California and the “gig economy” shows no sign of ending soon. On April 28, 2023, the State of California submitted a petition to the Ninth Circuit in Olson v. California, No. 21-55757 (9th...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

Ensuring Your Independent Contractors Don’t ‘Deliver’ Wisconsin Unemployment Insurance Tax Liability

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Those doing business in the Badger State should take note — in a recent case, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals determined that delivery drivers who were paid as independent contractors were improperly classified as such. ...more

White and Williams LLP

Someone Who Hires an Independent Contractor May Still Be Liable, But Not in This Case

In Allstate Veh. & Prop. Ins. Co. v. Glitz Constr. Corp., 2023 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 1180, 2023 NY Slip Op 01171, the Supreme Court of New York, Appellate Division, Second Department (Appellate Court), considered whether a...more

Littler

Littler Lightbulb – March Employment Appellate Roundup

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This Littler Lightbulb highlights some of the more significant employment and labor law developments at the U.S. Supreme Court and federal courts of appeal over the last month....more

DarrowEverett LLP

Protect Ya Neck: The Wu-Tang Clan, Independent Contractors and the Potential Expansion of Negligent Hiring Claims

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Instead of toiling over a 130-page private placement memorandum as an attorney or reviewing payroll as the head of the family business, imagine for a moment that you are Method Man, the de-facto lyrical leader of the Wu-Tang...more

BakerHostetler

You Can Contract If You Want To: California Appellate Court Leaves Prop 22 Largely Intact

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On March 13, a California Court of Appeal reversed most of a lower court ruling invalidating Proposition 22, the state’s 2020 voter-approved gig economy law allowing giant app-based ride-hailing and delivery companies, like...more

Proskauer - California Employment Law

January 2023 California Employment Law Notes

Age/National Origin Case Was Properly Dismissed Despite “Direct Evidence” Of Discriminatory Animus - Opara v. Yellin, 57 F.4th 709 (9th Cir. 2023) - Joan Opara was terminated from her employment as an IRS revenue...more

Lathrop GPM

Ninth Circuit Affirms Decision that Franchisees Are Not Employees of Franchisor

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The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed a decision that a group of franchisees are not employees of their franchisor, even though the trial court failed to apply the correct test. Haitayan v. 7-Eleven, Inc., 2022...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

Massachusetts Court of Appeals Gives Victory to Employers in Interpretation of ABC Test

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A recent decision on the scope of the so-called ABC Test gives guidance to firms using independent contractors. In Tiger Home Inspection, Inc. v. Director of the Dept. of Unemployment Assistance, a Massachusetts appeals court...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Massachusetts Food Delivery Drivers Not Exempt From Arbitration

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One issue that continues to be debated in state and federal courts is whether delivery drivers who deliver takeout food and other prepackaged goods from restaurants, delicatessens and convenience stores fall into the class of...more

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