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Independent Contractors Appeals Employment Litigation

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 -
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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Littler

Savings Clause Results in Oregon Supreme Court Affirming Enforceability of Arbitration Provision

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On July 8, 2022, in Gist v. ZoAn Management, Inc., the Oregon Supreme Court affirmed the decisions of the trial court and court of appeals granting the defendants’ motion to compel arbitration.  The court concluded that...more

Littler

U.S. Court of Appeals Offers Guidance on Applicability of Massachusetts Wage and Hour Laws to Out-of-State Workers

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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit recently affirmed a district court finding that the Massachusetts Wage Act did not apply to a person who mostly lived and worked in Florida. While the court’s decision in...more

Perkins Coie

Rare Employer Victory in CA Misclassification Case

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A unanimous three-judge panel reached a decision in the case of Bijon Hill v. Walmart. Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed that Walmart classified a freelance model, Bijon Hill, as an...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Good Faith Dispute Over Employment Relationship Allows Walmart to Escape Waiting Time Penalties

In a recent opinion in Hill v. Walmart Inc., the Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment in favor of Walmart on Hill’s claim for waiting time penalties under Labor Code section 203, finding there was a good-faith dispute...more

CDF Labor Law LLP

Unpublished California Opinion Did Not Authorize Arbitration Over Threshold Issue of Independent Contractor or Employee in a PAGA...

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A former driver for UberEats alleged that Uber misclassified drivers as independent contractors as part of a PAGA action.  Uber sought an order to compel arbitration of the question of whether the plaintiff was an independent...more

Snell & Wilmer

Utah’s Employer/Independent Contractor Distinction Remains Cloudy, Even To Judges

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In a February 3, 2022 opinion by the Utah Court of Appeals, the struggle that courts have in distinguishing between employees and independent contractors continues. In Jensen Tech Services and Sentinel Insurance Company,...more

Littler

Littler Global Guide - United Kingdom - Q4 2021

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Striking Workers Are Protected from Suffering Detriment - Precedential Decision by Judiciary or Regulatory Agency - On November 18, 2021, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) confirmed that workers who take part in...more

Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP

Ninth Circuit Holds that the Dynamex ABC Test Applies Retroactively, But Not Prop. 22

On September 20, 2021, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed Grubhub, Inc.’s lower court victory in a class action case involving the alleged misclassification of a former driver. The driver claimed he was...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Ninth Circuit Reversed Grubhub’s Victory on Independent Contractor Classification in Light of the Retroactive Application of...

On Monday, the Ninth Circuit vacated a judgment for Grubhub, Inc. and against a former food delivery driver, Raef Lawson, who claimed that he was misclassified as an independent contractor when he performed food delivery...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Appeals Court Affirms Employer’s Ability to Compel Arbitration in Massachusetts

Mandatory arbitration clauses for employment disputes have received a great deal of attention in recent years. In the First Circuit, there is now more clarity regarding the factors used to determine the enforceability of...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Fifth Circuit Shakes Up Standard for Certifying FLSA Collective Actions

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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a potentially landmark decision in Swales v. KLLM Transport Services, L.L.C. on Jan. 12, 2021, rejecting more than 30 years of case law related to conditional...more

Fisher Phillips

December 2020: The Top 18 Labor And Employment Law Stories

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It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, there have been an unprecedented number of changes for the past few years—and this past month...more

Fisher Phillips

Independent Contractor vs. Employee: Federal Appeals Court Instructs How to Structure Physician Agreements To Avoid...

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While the use of independent contractors in the healthcare industry has been a longstanding practice, it is now front and center as the gig economy continues to expand across several industries and the preference for...more

Fisher Phillips

Rideshare Companies Get Last-Minute California Reprieve – But Pivotal Gig Economy Appeal Will Be Heard At Warp Speed

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Just a few hours before they were subject to a court order forcing them to transform all of their drivers from independent contractors to employees, a California appeals court spared the nation’s two largest rideshare...more

Fisher Phillips

Battle Lines Drawn: Another Appeals Court Rules That Drivers Can Escape Arbitration, Furthering National Split For Gig Economy...

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Gig economy companies received bad news yesterday when yet another federal appeals court ruled that delivery drivers – even independent contractors – can escape otherwise valid arbitration agreements. This is now the third...more

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