ABC test

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

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

Drayage carrier notifies NJ independent contractors of changing business model

New Jersey independent contractors who haul freight under STG Drayage’s operating authority were notified Monday that they will no longer be tendered loads beginning in late November unless the truckers get their own authority through the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and meet other requirements.

“After careful consideration of shifting market conditions and changing legal landscapes, STG Drayage plans to cease doing business in New Jersey with independent contractor...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/drayage-carrier-notifies-nj-independent-contractors-of-changing-business-model

14-year-old case that brought ABC test to New Jersey was just settled

The case that first brought the ABC test for determining independent contractor status into New Jersey involved truck drivers hauling bedding. Fourteen years later, the case has been settled out of court.

That’s just one development in recent weeks regarding the always contentious question of how a court or regulator determines whether a worker is an employee or a truly independent contractor.

In recent weeks, there has also been the Department of Labor’s independent contractor rule, which sets...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/14-year-old-case-that-brought-abc-test-to-new-jersey-was-just-settled

15 states jump into California’s ongoing AB5 legal battle 

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A cascade of filings in the “other” AB5 case earlier this week includes one from 15 state attorneys...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/fifteen-states-jump-into-californias-ongoing-ab5-legal-battle

Solicitor General urges Supreme Court not to review California AB5 case

The U.S. solicitor general has recommended that the U.S. Supreme Court not review a case whose outcome would determine whether California’s independent contractor law, AB5, would be implemented in the state’s trucking sector.

The solicitor general’s office said in its brief filed Tuesday that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals “correctly determined that petitioners were unlikely to succeed” in their claim that the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (FAAAA) preempts applying the...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/solicitor-general-urges-supreme-court-not-to-review-california-ab5-case

East Coast’s Prop 22? Massachusetts facing potential vote on gig driver status

Massachusetts voters likely will confront a ballot question in November that would try to do what Proposition 22 sought in California: define gig drivers, such as those who work for Uber, Lyft or DoorDash, as independent contractors.

It is not certain that the proposition will make it on to the ballot on Election Day, though, as there are still a few hurdles. 

But it is being seen as the next big battlefield where forces backed by companies such as Uber (NYSE: UBER) are bankrolling a direct...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/east-coasts-prop-22-massachusetts-facing-potential-vote-on-gig-driver-status

Uber, Lyft and others face a reckoning

uber lyft instacart gig workers prop 22 ab5 classification

About two weeks ago, thousands of people across the United States took to the streets in protest, hoisting signs with damning statements like “Driving us into poverty” or “32 cents a mile is not enough.” In cities from Los Angeles to Boston, the masses clamored to be heard, tensions flared and the streets seemed suspiciously devoid of ridesharing vehicles.

The protests could be more accurately described as a strike against the ridesharing industry’s titans, Uber (NYSE: UBER) and Lyft (NASDAQ:...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/uber-lyft-and-others-face-a-reckoning

Second California court rules key federal law doesn’t preempt AB5

There is now a second state court decision in California ruling that a federal law known as F4A would not preclude the state’s AB5 law from setting the definition of independent contractors. 

The ruling has no immediate impact. The federal injunction handed down in early 2020 that blocked implementation of AB 5 in the state’s trucking sector, because of F4A, remains in place and supersedes any state court decisions. 

It’s now been seven months since a federal appeals court heard arguments on...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/second-california-court-rules-key-federal-law-doesnt-preempt-ab5