Recently, Mary Kay, Inc. was sued in New Jersey for allegedly misclassifying a class of direct sellers as independent contractors in violation of the New Jersey Wage Payment Law. While there are direct seller exemptions from laws governing unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation, and the payment and withholding of employment taxes,…

Judicial and regulatory developments in the months of September and October 2015 vividly highlight the fact that many companies in the U.S., both large and small, continue to fail to structure, document, and implement their IC relationships in a legally compliant manner – and thereby expose themselves needlessly to IC…

Amazon is the latest tech company to be sued in a proposed class action by drivers delivering its products – in this case, goods to be delivered within two hours of being ordered through Amazon’s “Prime Now” app. The drivers claim that they have been classified by Amazon and the…

August 2015 was not a vacation month for independent contractor cases. No less than seven major litigation events transpired this past month, highlighted by more of the same as well as some new developments. Several companies in different industries were subjected to judgments ranging as high as $5 million for…

Today Uber drivers were issued a favorable ruling by the federal district court judge hearing the independent contractor misclassification class action case brought by Uber drivers against the giant ride-sharing company in its own backyard in Northern California. But, there was little doubt as to how the court was likely…

Few independent contractor agreements we have reviewed, even those of Fortune 500 companies, are relatively free from clauses that undermine the IC relationship because such agreements typically contain clauses that retain the company’s right to direct or control the manner and means of performing services. As discussed in my blog…

On August 6, 2015, Uber drivers in California sought preliminary approval of their motion for class certification in their independent contractor misclassification lawsuit. A hearing was scheduled in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California before Judge Edward M. Chen on the drivers’ motion for class certification.…

Shortly after Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton placed independent contractor misclassification in the national spotlight in mid-July 2015 when she prominently commented in a campaign speech upon the expanding use of ICs in the “gig economy,” it has been reported that Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Al Franken (D-MN) have introduced…