Tag Archives: misclassification

Dead End for Class Certification? Ninth Circuit Provides Roadmap for Defending Independent Contractor Misclassification Class Claims

By Todd Lebowitz and Matthew Goodman on July 8, 2022 Posted in Class Action, Class Certification

For businesses using independent contractor vendors, misclassification claims are usually well-suited for class certification. A plaintiff’s path toward certifying a class can be relatively smooth when all vendors of a particular kind are treated as contractors. The argument goes that if one is misclassified, all are misclassified. But a new Ninth Circuit ruling may help … Continue Reading

Second Circuit Finds That Nurses Are Professionals, Even if They Work for Insurance Carriers

By Greg Mersol on January 30, 2020 Posted in FLSA

Not quite two years ago, the Supreme Court decided the case of Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Navarro, 138 S. Ct. 1134 (2018), a case we blogged here. The case itself involved the issue of whether service consultants at auto dealers were exempt from overtime under the FLSA. While the Supreme Court held that they were, … Continue Reading

California Court of Appeals Affirms Employer Class Action Wage and Hour Win at Trial

By Greg Mersol on October 16, 2018 Posted in Class Action Litigation, Wage and Hour

Employer Performance-Based Rate Scheme for Automobile Repair Upheld Under California Law With many of the easy targets for wage and hour matters gone (e.g., misclassification of assistant managers), plaintiffs’ counsel have increasingly turned to technical overtime or minimum wage violations as a vehicle to bring class or collective action litigation. As a recent claim reflects, … Continue Reading

FedEx to Pay $228 Million in Independent Contractor Misclassification Settlement

By Todd Lebowitz on June 16, 2015 Posted in Independent Contractors

Things that $228 Million will buy: – LeBron James’s waterfront mansion in Miami, listed for $15 million – A 710-year old copy of the Magna Carta, sold in 2007 for $21.3 million – The Oakland A’s, sold in 2005 for $180 million – Three personal submarines, at $2 million each; and – Tivi Island in Fiji (yes, the … Continue Reading

Arizona District Court Rejects Joint Employer Arguments in Independent Contractor Case Alleging Misclassification of Truck Drivers

By Greg Mersol on July 21, 2014 Posted in Independent Contractors

A month ago we discussed the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Ruiz v. Affinity Logistics Corp., Case No. 12-56589 (9th Cir. June 16, 2014), in which the employer treated its delivery drivers as employees in everything but name, resulting in the unsurprising finding that they were employees and not independent contractors. An Arizona district court has … Continue Reading

California Supreme Court Eases Path Toward Class Certification of Independent Contractor Misclassification Claims

By Todd Lebowitz on July 1, 2014 Posted in Class Certification, Independent Contractors

Managing independent contractor relationships requires a delicate balance, perhaps best described (unknowingly, of course) by the band .38 Special in the song “Hold On Loosely”: Just hold on loosely But don’t let go If you cling too tightly You’re gonna lose control Maintaining too much control causes the loss of control. And so it goes … Continue Reading