Grinberg: Prop. 22 Probably Overturned. What Now?| Employees Compensation Information

from Gregory Grinberg

Thursday, September 2, 2021 | 0

Do you remember sentence 22?

Gregory Grinberg

Ever since Sacramento passed Assembly Bill 5, which seeks to severely restrict the ability of companies to retain independent contractors, every industry has been desperate to create an exemption from the scope of AB 5. Well, Uber, Lyft, and the rest of the California gig economy were trying to create their own exception with Proposition 22.

In November last year, the majority of Californians approved Proposition 22, but it was immediately challenged in a lawsuit. Well, a trial judge has now overturned Proposition 22 and found it unenforceable. Of course, a calling is almost certain.

So what should we do? Well, we SHOULD spend time pondering the real mysteries of life: What was in that briefcase in Pulp Fiction? Did Han shoot first? (Spoiler alert: yes he did, and I don’t care what Mr. Lucas has to say).

But since we rarely do what we really should, we take a hypothesis. What if an Uber driver is involved in an accident tomorrow? What happens? Employee compensation or not?

Well, Uber would likely deny all workers’ compensation claims, claiming the driver is not an employee. In the meantime, a motion would likely be made on the theory that the Uber driver is an employee between AB 5 and the recent Proposition 22 verdict. Uber would likely continue its denial while the appeal is pending. It goes on and on.

I would expect motions to be filed with all eyes on the outcome of any appeals relating to the validity of Proposition 22 Limitations would likely preclude further proceedings.

Funny times.

Gregory Grinberg is the managing partner of Gale, Sutow & Associates’ SF Bay South office and a certified employee injury law specialist. This post was reprinted with permission from Grinberg’s WCDefenseCA blog.