You are commingling Federal court cases and federal departments in the government.
A court case resolve differences between two parties.
The court case happens when someone wants to fight the ruling/fine/regulation.
Uber and Lyft’s biggest nightmare has just begun.
With the quick replacement of the labor secretary position in Washington DC the Biden administration can now go forward with in acting federal guidelines and laws for wages and benefits for gig workers.
www.politico.com
![Smile Gesture Flag of the united states Pantsuit Blazer]()
Biden to tap Julie Su as next Labor secretary
The current deputy Labor secretary will be nominated to replace Marty Walsh, according to two people familiar with the matter.
www.politico.com
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A court case resolve differences between two parties.
The court case happens when someone wants to fight the ruling/fine/regulation.
There was a time when i believed reasonable arguments could be made and then mature, intelligent, well-intentioned adults would render a decision on a matter. In those times, I agree with you.All court cases. As you agree.
But most significantly, I'm not aware of a single case of mis-classification where the DOL has pursued a case in court that wasn't predicated on a company's intentional mis-classification. In other words, cases in which a company blatantly disregarded the guidelines.
Such is not the case with the rideshare companies whose business model and public offerings have all been based on classifying workers as independent contractors, and where the companies have in many cases successfully defended that classification in court and with state legislatures. IMO, any court order to the contrary, while devastating to the companies, would be hard pressed to find intentional mis-classification and order retroactive penalties and retroactive compensation.
But I think the coal industry would have agreed in 2007. Right or wrong, one group of people, and often one man, destroyed an industry and bankrupted 100% of the public companies through regulation by executive order.
So far, they have won in CA - and 23 other states now have laws on the books requiring the TNCs operating in the state to classify drivers as Independent Contractors.Where have they been sued.
And why are they spending hundreds of millions to change state laws if they think that they do not control workers so much that they are in danger of being successfully sued for misclassification?
They lost in California and needed to pass a new law to get on the right side of California's laws.
IMO, under the old driver agreements and driver app, there was no question that drivers should be classified as employees - Shannon Lis-Riordin effectively proved that in federal court (CA 9th circuit)... but the TNCs have since made changes based on the Judge Chen's findings and the appeals court over-ruled Chen on key issues, sending the case back to Chen. In light of the changes the TNCs agreed to (no more deactivations based on acceptance rate, agreeing to more transparency about both trips and fares), Lis-Riordin settled the case. Since that time, the TNCs have completely separated driver earnings from rider fares (remember the old 20%-28% fee? - now gone) and are now providing both upfront fares and upfront earnings estimates - so that the TNCs can now make the case in court that drivers (and riders) have all of the information they need to make a decision as to whether or not to take a trip - putting to rest one of the key elements of determining worker classification: control.
The TNCs can now show that drivers are in control of what rides they choose based on all of the factors they need to make such a decision, including how much they will earn. They can show that drivers choose when and where to work, if they even choose to work at all. They can show that drivers what type of service they want to work by choosing the vehicle use to work and meeting the requirements of the service level.
Another of the key factors considered in determining worker classification is whether or not the worker can work for other companies, including competitors. The TNCs can show this and even show that drivers have to ability to run multiple gig apps simultaneously and choose the best gigs available to them in any of the apps.
Again, IMO, these are the things that - short of congressional involvement - will make it near impossible for anyone to win a court case in the US forcing the TNC to classify drivers as employees.
Another key factor in determining worker classification
We'll see, I guess. I think the federal courts will have a difficult time upholding an executive order that contradicts the regulations of the administration issuing it - meaning that the regulations would have to be changed. And everything I read in the DoL proposal leads me to believe that the TNCs will be able to survive the challenge and maintain drivers as ICs - possibly with some changes to compensation & benefits.There was a time when i believed reasonable arguments could be made and then mature, intelligent, well-intentioned adults would render a decision on a matter. In those times, I agree with you.
But I think the coal industry would have agreed in 2007. Right or wrong, one group of people, and often one man, destroyed an industry and bankrupted 100% of the public companies through regulation by executive order.
I've no idea how you would know that, so I hope you don't mind if I take that as your opinion (and not one I necessarily disagree with).Almost every company fights the first DOL ruling and fine and leverage the hearing to get a reduced settlement.
Once a company is under investigation it's already public. And if it's a publicly traded company, they are required by law to disclose the investigation to investors in their 10Q. But otherwise - yeah, I'm on the same page with you now. Except I suspect that the DoL uses the fines to leverage a settlement, not the company.A company that accepts the fine and doesn’t fight probably has reasons it does not want the issue out in public.
I haven't conflated (comingled to use your term) the judicial and the administrative.You are commingling Federal court cases and federal departments in the government.
A court case resolve differences between two parties.
The court case happens when someone wants to fight the ruling/fine/regulation.
There is no federal court case that has found drivers to be misclassified - yet. (Federal Court)
There is no Federal Agency that has found drivers to be misclassified - yet. (Federal agencies, DoL, IRS)
But yes, you are right - the agency responsible for enforcing the law (like DoL and its Wage and Hour Division) have the authority to investigate and issue fines in order to enforce federal law - and they can do so without going to court.
That's not the only time a case is brought. Without any fine or penalty being issued by an agency a court case also happens when anyone challenges the companies assertion of classification - which is what all of the cases so far in federal court have been. As far as I know, no federal agency has brought the TNCs to court over the issue of worker classification - the case have all been brought by private entities.The court case happens when someone wants to fight the ruling/fine/regulation
California has a large welfare system it is easy to abuse and security is just not there. It has always been like this since the 80’sSome interesting insight brought up regarding Julie Su and her performance in California Government and fraud that happened under her watch.
I think that goes for the US, not just CA.California has a large welfare system it is easy to abuse and security is just not there. It has always been like this since the 80’s
The fraud is such a waste of $. I suspect the problem is that making our security net and support systems more 'secure' would both cost more than the theft it prevents while at the same time denying people with legitimate needs access to services.
61 - 68 of 68 Posts
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