As the business of artificial intelligence is expanding, it seemed it was only a matter of time before the AI industry became the subject of an independent contractor misclassification lawsuit. Last month, one of the leading...more
1/8/2025
/ Arbitration ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
California ,
Class Action ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Definition ,
Employment Litigation ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Popular ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
One of the most important legal developments last month is a new lawsuit filed by registered nurses against a leading health care system alleging that they have been misclassified as independent contractors instead of...more
Is an independent food distributor exempt from an arbitration agreement under the interstate transportation worker exemption in the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA)? That was the question that the U.S. Supreme Court addressed in...more
Companies can use two independent grounds to compel arbitration of independent contractor misclassification lawsuits: the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) and state arbitration laws. The FAA, however, includes an exemption for...more
The lead case in our review of last month’s legal developments in the area of independent contractor compliance and misclassification is a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, in which it addresses the...more
A decision by a federal court in New Jersey last month is a reminder to companies that arbitration clauses need to be drafted well in order to succeed. New Jersey courts for many years have been perhaps the most finicky in...more
This past month, the most notable lawsuit alleging independent contractor misclassification was an ERISA claim. ERISA lawsuits by workers alleging independent contractor misclassification can potentially expose companies to...more
The first three cases reported below regarding legal developments in August 2021 have four common denominators: the defendants are all large gig economy companies; plaintiffs’ class action counsel is the same; the lawsuits...more
9/15/2021
/ ABC Test ,
Arbitration ,
Class Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Lyft ,
Misclassification ,
Wage and Hour
June was a relatively slow month in the area of independent contractor misclassification and compliance. But it produced what may turn out to be one of the more important judicial decisions in years affecting last-mile...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
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
5/12/2021
/ ABC Test ,
Arbitration ,
Class Action ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (FAAAA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Motor Carriers ,
Popular ,
Ridesharing
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
December was a very slow month for court decisions affecting independent contractors, but both decisions reported below confirm that effectively drafted arbitration clauses remain one of two “best friends” for businesses that...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
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
While selected states are in the midst of trying to crack down on independent contractor misclassification, the federal government is trying to clear a path and clarify the tests for independent contractor status under...more
2/18/2020
/ ABC Test ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Wage and Hour
Our combined news update provides guidance for companies that utilize independent contractors on what not to do. The first lesson involves a company’s waiver of its best argument for compelling arbitration of an IC...more
Last month saw large settlements and yet another new lawsuit against companies that have an independent contractor business model, but also success by such companies in obtaining a favorable jury verdict in an IC...more
The past two months were two of the busiest ever in terms of judicial decisions involving claims of independent contractor misclassification, administrative and regulatory initiatives, and legislative developments. They are...more
6/11/2019
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Independent Contractors ,
Insurance Agents ,
Misclassification ,
Popular ,
Uber ,
Wage and Hour
Ride-sharing giant Uber Technologies announced by way of a filing today with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it has reached agreements to resolve the independent contractor (IC) classification claims of a...more
Cases reported below for this past month show that large companies remain in the crosshairs of class action lawyers representing workers in independent contractor misclassification lawsuits. Two well-known industry leaders in...more
While there were no headline-grabbing cases or developments in the area of independent contractor misclassification and compliance during the past month, the first four court decisions reported below provide the basis for two...more
12/12/2018
/ Arbitration ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Title VII ,
Wage and Hour
Even before the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last May in Epic Systems Corp., which upheld mandatory arbitration agreements, courts have been busy enforcing or striking down arbitration provisions. Many of those decisions...more
Last month, half of the cases that came to our attention in the area of independent contractor misclassification and compliance involved interesting issues concerning arbitration – and lessons for companies seeking to limit...more
There were no notable settlements in independent contractor misclassification class action cases that came to our attention last month, but there was an array of significant IC cases in various stages of litigation. Two of...more