INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Postmates and Uber have filed a complaint in California federal district court, alleging that a bill limiting how companies can label
workers as independent contractors is unconstitutional
The complaint, which includes two gig workers as co-plaintiffs, was filed in U.S
District Court on Monday, days before Assembly Bill 5 (AB-5) is due to go into effect on Jan
It asks for a preliminary injunction against AB-5 while the lawsuit is under consideration.
The complaint argues that AB-5 violates several
and California constitutions, including equal protection because of how it classifies gig workers for ride-sharing and on-demand delivery
companies compared to the exemptions it grants to workers who do &substantively identical work& in more than twenty other industries.
AB-5
was authored by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, a Democrat representing the 80th Assembly District in southern California and signed into law
in September by Governor Gavin Newsom
It is intended to uphold the ruling in Dynamex Operations West Inc
v Superior Court of Los Angeles, a landmark 2018 decision by the California Supreme Court about how employees and independent contractors
should be classified, and ensure that gig economy workers are entitled to benefits like minimum wage, health insurance and workers&
compensation.
But the suit opponents, which includes tech companies whose business models rely on the gig economy, as well as groups of gig
workers and freelance journalists, argue that it restricts their work opportunities and ability to earn money.
In addition to Uber and
Postmates, the complaints& plaintiffs also include Lydia Olson and Miguel Perez, drivers for on-demand companies
In a post on Postmates& blog, Perez wrote that he joined the suit because AB5 &is threatening the freedom and flexibility I have relied on
in recent years to support my family.&
A statement from Postmates said &AB5 is a blunt instrument, which is why lawmakers exempted 24
industries, seemingly at random, from its requirements.&
The company added that does not want to be exempted from AB-5 or reverse the
Dynamex standard, but &call for industry and labor talks with the California legislature to modernize a robust safety net designed
specifically for the needs of on-demand workers, that establishes a new portable benefits model, creates earnings guarantees higher than
minimum age, and gives all workers both the strong voice they need and flexibility they demand—a framework not currently contemplated
under state and federal law.&
As proof that AB-5 violates the equal protection clause, the complaint argues that &the vast majority of the
statute is a list of exemptions that carve out of the statutory scope dozens of occupations, including direct salespeople, travel agents,
grant writers, construction truck drivers, commercial fisherman, and many more
There is no rhyme or reason to these nonsensical exemptions, and some are so ill-defined or entirely undefined that it is impossible to
discern what they include or exclude.&
The complaint also alleges that AB-5 violates due process by preventing people from choosing to work
for gig companies, and the contracts clause because mandating companies like Uber and Postmates to reclassify contractors as employees will
either invalidate or substantially change their existing contracts.
In statement about the lawsuit, Gonzalez said &the one clear thing we
know about Uber is they will do anything to try to exempt themselves from state regulations that make us all safer and their driver
employees self-sufficient
In the meantime, Uber chief executives will continue to become billionaires while too many of their drivers are forced to sleep in their
cars.&
The lawsuit follows several efforts to stop or limit AB-5
In October, a group of drivers for Lyft, Uber and DoorDash announced they had submitted a California ballet initiative for the November 2020
ballot in response to AB-5
The measure which received substantial financial support from those companies, seeks to enable drivers and couriers can continue to be
independent contractors while guaranteeing benefits like a minimum wage, expenses, healthcare and insurances.
Earlier this month, several
organizations representing freelancer writers filed a lawsuit in federal court in Los Angeles alleging AB5 places unconstitutional
restrictions on free speech, the day after Vox Media announced it will cut hundreds of freelance positions in California as it prepares for
