January 2014

In the Courts

• NEWSPAPER THAT MISCLASSIFIED PAPER CARRIERS HIT WITH $11 MILLION JUDGMENT IN CALIFORNIA.  California state court orders San Diego Union Tribune, owned by Copley Press Inc., to pay $6.1 million in legal fees to the attorneys for a class of over 1,200 paper carriers who

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Earlier this week, the San Diego Union Tribune, owned by The Copley Press Inc., was ordered by a state court judge in California to pay $6.1 million in legal fees to the attorneys for a class of over 1,200 paper carriers to whom the court had earlier awarded…

On January 10, 2014, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law the New York Commercial Goods Transportation Industry Fair Play Act  (S5867-2013; A5237b).  The new law targets transportation and delivery companies in New York that classify as independent contractors certain drivers that deliver commercial goods in the state. …

December 2013

This past month, a number of cases were decided by the courts involving misclassification of employees as independent contractors, but there were no regulatory or legislative actions of note.

In the Courts

• Massachusetts federal court grants summary judgment in favor of delivery drivers that were operating as corporations,

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Reprinted with permission from the November 27, 2013 edition of the New York Law Journal ©2013 ALM Media Properties, LLC. All rights reserved. Further duplication without permission is prohibited. For information, contact ALMReprints.com, 877.257.3382 or reprints@alm.com.

A new bill that will significantly limit the use of independent contractors to…

November 2013

In the Courts

• A Massachusetts federal court approved on November 26, 2013 a $10.0 million settlement in a class action lawsuit against CleanNet USA Inc., who was alleged to have violated Massachusetts independent contractor law by misclassifying employees as independent contractor “franchisees.”  The settlement reportedly includes $7.5

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Earlier today, November 18, 2013, the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor entered into a Partnership Agreement with the Labor Bureau of the New York State Office of Attorney General and a similar Agreement with the New York State Department of Labor.  Both agreements are…

Yesterday, I noted in a blog post that Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) had announced on November 12, 2013 that he had introduced a bill called the Payroll Fraud Prevention Act of 2013 at a hearing of the Senate Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety. I have obtained an advance copy…