AB5

California AG makes case against OOIDA’s legal battle to stop AB5

California’s attorney general has fired back at the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association in a federal appeals court, saying OOIDA’s arguments against the state’s independent contractor law, AB5, are “simply wrong in asserting [that the law] … effectively prohibits an entire sector of small business truckers from operating in California.”

OOIDA is alone now in the legal battle against the imposition of AB5 against trucking. The California Trucking Association launched the original...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/california-ag-makes-case-against-ooidas-legal-battle-to-stop-ab5

AB5 notches another win: Supreme Court won’t hear Postmates/Uber case 

Backers of California’s AB5 independent contractor law have scored a fresh victory after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the Postmates/Uber case. 

California’s independent contractor law, AB5, has racked up another victory in the federal court system.

The U.S. Supreme Court without comment – which is common practice – denied review Tuesday in the case known both as Olson, for lead plaintiff Lydia Olson, and Uber/Postmates, to distinguish it from other Uber-driven litigation against AB5.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/ab5-notches-another-win-supreme-court-wont-hear-postmates-uber-case

Court decision impacting Illinois could snare any carrier crossing the state

A federal court decision involving an Illinois trucking company and that state’s employment law could bring about a “slew” of lawsuits against any carriers that operate in the Land of Lincoln, a trucking-focused law firm warns.

The decision last week by Judge Manish Shah in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois looked to the B prong of the ABC test that determines whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor. While the test is most closely associated with...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/court-decision-impacting-illinois-could-snare-any-carrier-crossing-the-state

ATA chief rips OOIDA stance on Biden independent contractor rule

Lewie Pugh of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association made only a few comments at his House of Representatives committee appearance July 24 about the Biden administration’s independent contractor (IC) rule. 

But they were enough to draw a strong rebuke from Chris Spear, president of the American Trucking Associations. Spear took to ATA’s Transport Topics website last week to express his displeasure with OOIDA and the comments by Pugh, who is an executive vice president of OOIDA and inc...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/ata-chief-rips-ooida-stance-on-biden-independent-contractor-rule

OOIDA appeal: AB5 will kill off lease drivers, raising Commerce Clause issues

Faced with dwindling legal avenues to prevent California independent contractor law AB5 from governing the state’s trucking sector, one of the two plaintiffs is continuing to fight an uphill battle with a new argument in its latest brief.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, in the first brief filed before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in the latest appeal of an earlier decision, uses the Business to Business Exemption in AB5 as an argument for why the courts...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/ooida-appeal-ab5-will-kill-off-lease-drivers-raising-commerce-clause-issues

California trucking industry backs curbs on PAGA citizen-initiated labor lawsuits

The California Private Attorney Generals Act (PAGA), which lets individuals mount civil cases against employers for a wide variety of perceived employment law violations, is likely to get a major overhaul. That has the trucking industry and other employers cheering.

“This is the first major reform to PAGA since its enactment in 2004, so it is a big deal,” Chris Shimoda, the senior vice president of government affairs at the California Trucking Association (CTA), said in an email to FreightWaves.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/california-trucking-industry-backs-curbs-on-paga-citizen-initiated-labor-lawsuits

California’s AB5 upheld by appeals court panel in Uber/Postmates case

California’s independent contractor law, AB5, has been upheld unanimously by an 11-member panel of the the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the second time in recent months the law has been victorious in federal courts.

The case known as Olson, after the lead named plaintiff, Uber driver Lydia Olson, was filed in 2019 by Uber (NYSE: UBER) and Postmates, a gig worker delivery company that was acquired by Uber in 2020. At its heart was the question of whether, given the numerous exemptions from...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/californias-ab5-upheld-by-appeals-court-panel-in-uber-postmates-case

Minnesota OKs deal on Uber, Lyft pay; California court may uphold Prop 22

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has said he will sign into law a bill that ends the threat of Uber and Lyft leaving the Twin Cities area and sets statewide compensation rates for ride-hailing services.

Meanwhile, arguments in the California Supreme Court’s review of Proposition 22, which aims to protect gig workers from the state’s AB5 law, suggest the voter-approved initiative may stand, exempting companies like Uber and Lyft from AB5’s strict limits on who can be classified as an independent...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/minnesota-oks-deal-on-uber-lyft-pay-california-court-may-uphold-prop-22

CTA, OOIDA to appeal court decision upholding AB5 in California trucking

The California Trucking Association and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association will appeal last month’s decision that rejected their latest attempt to block imposition of California independent contractor law AB5 on the state’s trucking sector.

The decision to appeal the ruling to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, filed Friday with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, came as something of a surprise given the consensus in the trucking legal community...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/cta-ooida-to-appeal-court-decision-upholding-ab5-in-california-trucking

Check Call: AB5 takes a body blow

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The battle over the independent contractor law in California rages on. Nicknamed AB5, the law changes how a lot of workers are classified. It matters in the transportation world because for carriers that also use owner-operators to haul freight, it classifies many of those owner-operators as employees versus independent contractors. To catch up on how we got here, check out some of the previous articles about it.

Why it matters now is that it’s back in the federal courts. After...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/check-call-ab5-takes-a-body-blow

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