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
In an important decision for freight brokers, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently issued a ruling in Ye v. GlobalTranz Enterprises, Inc., No. 22-1805 (7th Cir. July 18, 2023), which held that a plaintiff’s claim for...more
The freight brokerage industry began humming Meat Loaf’s 1977 power ballad earlier today when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit became the third federal appellate court to consider the extent to which...more
Freight brokers are often sued for negligence when there is cargo damage or personal injury involving a motor carrier hired by the broker. Personal injury claims in particular can involve damages in the tens and hundreds of...more
Negligence claims arising from motor carrier collisions have typically focused on the driver, owner and/or operator of the subject vehicle involved in the accident. This traditional model allowed freight brokers, direct...more
Earlier this year, in the case of C.H. Robinson v. Miller, No. 20-1425, 2022 WL 2295168 (U.S. June 27, 2022), the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a blow to freight brokers when it refused to grant a broker’s request for review...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
While the U.S. Supreme Court has made a number of headlines this term, flying under the radar was its refusal to consider whether California’s controversial worker classification law should be blocked by a federal law that...more
In April 2021, the 9th Circuit panel held that the application of California Assembly Bill 5 (AB 5) to motor carriers is not preempted by the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (FAAAA). Under AB 5, 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
In April, the 9th Circuit panel held that the application of California Assembly Bill 5 (AB 5) to motor carriers is not preempted by the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (FAAAA). The panel found the...more
April 2021 was a meaningful month for two industries that are hardly strangers to lawsuits involving the status of workers as independent contractors. A federal district court in the District of Columbia issued an extremely...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
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
Seyfarth Synopsis: Back in January 2020, a federal district court enjoined the State of California from enforcing AB 5 against interstate motor carriers. Now, in a split 2-1 decision, a Ninth Circuit panel has reversed the...more
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a long-awaited decision on the question of whether AB5, California’s strict independent contractor misclassification statute, may be applied to motor carriers, or whether the...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
Seyfarth Synopsis: In a case involving motor carriers, the California Court of Appeal has held that the FAAAA (Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994) does not preempt the ABC employment test California...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