Judge Denies Freelancers’ Bid to Upend California Labor Law
I posted about this law when the freelance journalists realized the law covered them. California sold the bill by saying it targeted Uber and Lyft. In reality it targeted all freelance work. Many journalists, prefer freelance work- they write articles and sell them to numerous media sources. They are not employed by anyone, so they have to cover their own medical insurance, retirement, etc. But they chose to do this.
No more. Of course they can simply move out of California. But Dementia Joe promised to get this law nationwide....
The State will ensure that you have the protections of an employer-employee relationship whether you want one or not.A federal judge has denied a bid by freelance journalists and photographers to block parts of a California labor law designed to require gig-economy companies to offer employee status and benefits to their workers.
The American Society of Journalists and Authors and National Press Photographers Association filed a federal lawsuit claiming Assembly Bill 5 unfairly caps the number of freelance submissions at 35 per year.
The bill, which took effect in January, was crafted by lawmakers who seek to extend employee-status protections and benefits to independent workers who companies classify as contractors. Lawmakers said the intentional misclassification of workers has contributed to income inequality nationwide.But the organizations said forcing employers to extend benefits to freelancers – such as disability insurance, paid family leave and sick leave – will make it harder for freelancers to obtain stable employment.
In a preliminary injunction motion, the groups argued the 35-piece cap was unfair and AB 5 would disadvantage freelancers by making their labor more expensive and thus less attractive to employers.
Freelance journalists and photographers would also lose the flexibility of freelance status and, as employees, would lose ownership of copyrights to their work, the motion said.
But U.S. District Judge Philip S. Gutierrez denied the request to block parts of AB 5 and dismissed the organizations’ lawsuit, writing in a pair of rulings issued March 20 that California succeeded in demonstrating its interest in extending labor protections to all workers.
Gutierrez found AB 5 succeeds in its intent of drawing critical distinctions between different types of freelance work and that plaintiffs failed to show the law contradicted its intent or suggested favoritism to certain industries.