I. SYNOPSIS- Ed was a vibrant and healthy 85-year-old. One day, he decided to sign an advance healthcare directive providing that if his physical condition ever declined, he wished to remain in his home as long as...more
Remarkably, Mr. Foxworthy’s name comes up frequently when talking about whether workers have been properly classified as independent contractors. Not because there is anything funny about that issue; there isn’t. And not...more
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
On March 17, Rover—a digital application connecting pet owners with daily pet-care providers—argued to the Ninth Circuit that it should uphold a California federal judge’s finding that a dog-sitter was properly classified as...more
In the spirit of the season, we are using our annual "12 days of the holidays" blog series to address new California laws and their impact on California employers. On this tenth day of the holidays, my labor and employment...more
In 2017, four former franchisees brought a class action in California, claiming 7-Eleven owed them unreimbursed expenses. The ex-franchisees claimed they were employees, not independent contractors of 7-Eleven. The court...more
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
A federal court for the Central District of California in Haitayan v. 7-Eleven, Inc. has ruled in favor of franchisor 7-Eleven and against four franchise owners who claimed they were employees under California law rather than...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
On 30 April 2018, the California Supreme Court issued the seminal decision in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court, adopting the “A-B-C Test” for determining independent contractor status in the state. The A-B-C...more
The California Supreme Court has followed up on its groundbreaking decision in Dynamex Operations West Inc. v. Superior Court, 4 Cal.5th 903 (2018), which imposed the so-called “ABC Test” for determining whether a worker is...more
In Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court 4 Cal. 5th 903 (2018), the California Supreme Court held that any individual who performs work for a person or entity is presumed to be an employee who falls within the...more
The California Supreme Court in Vazquez v. Jan-Pro Franchising International, Inc. ruled on Jan. 14, 2021, that its decision in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court 4 Cal. 5th 903 (2018) (Dynamex), applies...more
Employers have continued to feel the impact of the 2018 California Supreme Court decision in Dynamex Operations West Inc. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County, 4 Cal.5th 903 (2018). Today, the California Supreme Court in...more
The California Supreme Court has concluded that the ABC Test it developed for determining whether a worker is an independent contractor or employee applies retroactively. Therefore, the ABC Test, first developed in the...more
In Vazquez v. Jan-Pro Franchising International (Vazquez), the California Supreme Court answered “Yes” to the Ninth Circuit’s question, “Does your independent contractor ABC test in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior...more
In the spirit of the season—and keeping some semblance of normal—we are using our annual "12 days of the holidays" blog series to address new California laws and their impact on California employers. On this eighth day of the...more
In the latest Chapter of the continuing saga of whether the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (FAAAA) of 1994 preempts either California’s expanded Dynamex “ABC” test set forth in AB 5 or the recent statutory...more
On November 4, 2020, Uber, Lyft and Door Dash secured a victory in their expensive campaign to categorize app-based drivers as independent contractors. 55% of California voters voted in favor of Proposition 22, which means...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
For many years, worker classification has been an ongoing battle in California. The issue of employee vs. independent contractor has spurred many lawsuits statewide, resulted in countless precedent-setting decisions, and led...more
California’s statute governing the classification of independent contractors, enacted under Assembly Bill (AB) 5, underwent a significant renovation on September 4, 2020, when Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 2257. The...more
As business owners and members of the labor and employment law community know all too well, California’s AB 5 went into effect on January 1 of this year. The law imposed the “ABC test” for determining whether a worker should...more
On September 4, 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 2257 (AB 2257), the eagerly anticipated “clean up” legislation revising Assembly Bill 5 (AB 5), California’s stringent independent contractor law. AB 5 wrote...more
It is no secret that independent contractor misclassification claims are being filed against employers with a great deal of frequency, often as class actions and often in California. Many of those lawsuits have been filed...more