Employment Law This Week®: Delivery Driver Ruled Independent Contractor, Parental Leave Proposal, Federal Contractor Audits, Ambush Election Rules
In Archer, et al. v Grubhub, Inc., the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) ruled that § 1 of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) applies to Grubhub delivery drivers. The plaintiffs, former delivery drivers for Grubhub,...more
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
The retroactive application of Dynamex may permit a Grubhub driver’s suit alleging he was misclassified as an independent contractor, according to a new decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit....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 appeals court just resurrected a pivotal gig economy battle that at one time seemed to be the center of the legal universe – but for a variety of reasons seems much less important these days. The 9th Circuit Court...more
A federal appeals court just handed Grubhub – and gig economy companies in general – a pivotal victory by narrowly interpreting an exception allowing certain transportation workers (including independent contractors) to...more
Great news for gig economy businesses from an Illinois federal court: a judge recently ruled that Grubhub’s delivery drivers were not operating in “interstate commerce,” and therefore were not excluded from the company’s...more
In a prior article following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in New Prime Inc. v. Oliveira, we noted that there is likely to be future litigation concerning who qualifies as an "interstate" transportation worker for...more
Regular readers of this blog know about the Grubhub gig economy misclassification litigation. The quick version: Grubhub squared off with a former driver, Raef Lawson, in the nation’s first-ever gig economy misclassification...more
The Grubhub misclassification battle, which has dominated gig economy headlines for the past year or so, has taken another interesting turn. An Uber driver has jumped into the fray, offering his opinion about why the 9th...more
The first-ever trial on the gig economy misclassification to reach a judicial merits determination has now turned into the first-ever appeal on gig economy misclassification. And late Friday evening, the plaintiff seeking to...more
Late Friday afternoon, the attorneys for the worker who came out on the losing end of the Grubhub misclassification trial asked the appeals court to return the case to the lower court for a new hearing. Their reasoning? Last...more
On February 8, 2018, Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley found that couriers for the tech/food delivery service company GrubHub, Inc. (“GrubHub”) were properly classified as independent contractors. Judge Corley made...more
Many of you likely have filled out your March Madness bracket, and are eagerly watching game after game hoping your bracket doesn’t bust. The gig misclassification game is experiencing a March Madness of its own. The debate...more
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 were an unprecedented number of changes all through 2017. And if the first two months...more
We knew we hadn’t heard the end of this case, but yesterday it’s official: the worker who lost what is believed to be the nation’s first-ever gig economy misclassification trial last month has filed an appeal with the 9th...more
In a long-awaited decision, a San Francisco federal judge ruled that GrubHub properly classified a delivery driver as an independent contractor. The Feb. 8 ruling sheds meaningful light on the prominent and heavily-litigated...more
Independent contractor misclassification claims have been percolating through the courts for years. Some were swept away by a wave of federal preemption, which has subsided. Others found their way to the summary judgment...more
The Lawson v. Grubhub, Inc., trial has been closely monitored by those in the gig economy, since it is the first trial to address the classification of “gig” workers....more
By now, you’ve probably heard the good news: a federal judge yesterday ruled in favor of Grubhub and pronounced that a delivery driver who was challenging the independent contractor classification model was not, in fact, an...more
In what is believed to be the first time in our nation’s history that a trial court has reached a judicial merits determination in a gig economy misclassification case, a federal judge in California ruled in favor of the...more
After a five-hour closing argument session in a California federal court on Monday, the gig economy is waiting with baited breath and trying to hazard their best guesses about how the judge will rule in the high-stakes Lawson...more
The parties in the Grubhub misclassification case are back in court on Monday, October 30, delivering their final closing arguments to the judge. We’ve written about the trial extensively. To sum it up, though: a former...more
It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. The law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, and September 2017 was no different. In order to make sure that you stay on top of the latest...more
The evidentiary phase of the Grubhub misclassification trial ended last week; now the gig economy world waits with baited breath for a final ruling. For those unfamiliar with the situation, this could be the first time the...more