California’s new gig economy law challenged in court by freelance writers
Freelance journalists on Tuesday sued to block California’s new labor law that will require more workers to be classified as employees, arguing it threatens their ability to earn a living.
Two groups representing freelance journalists, the American Society of Journalists and Authors and the National Press Photographers Association, sued in the U.S. District Court for Central California arguing the new law infringes on reporters’ First Amendment rights.
They argue the law treats freelance journalists differently than writers who produce other types of speech, such as marketing copy.
“Treating journalists differently based solely on the content of their speech is flatly unconstitutional,” said Jim Manley, an attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation, which is representing the journalists. “The government cannot single out journalists and deny them the freedom to work as freelancers.”
The law, which is scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, says publishers must hire freelancers as employees if they produce more than 35 articles or photos for their publications per year.
Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, who wrote the new law, criticized the libertarian Pacific Legal Foundation as a frequent opponent of laws supported by liberal Democrats, including the Endangered Species Act and a California law requiring women on corporate boards.
“Now the Pacific Legal Foundation is attacking California’s landmark workplace rights law,” Gonzalez wrote in a statement. “That should come as no surprise to anyone.”
Truckers have also sued over the law, which sets new rules for when a company must classify a worker as an employee entitled to benefits like overtime pay, rather than as an independent contractor. Assembly Bill 5 codifies a California Supreme Court decision that outlined the new employee classification rules.
The law will apply to a wide range of industries, including gig-economy businesses like rideshare service Uber, which says it does not plan to reclassify its drivers and is prepared to defend that decision in court.
Legal experts predict AB 5 will generate a flurry of lawsuits, and possibly a measure on the November 2020 ballot. A coalition of gig economy companies including Uber, Lyft and Doordash are promoting a measure that would let them continue classifying their drivers as independent contractors while providing them some new rights.
Some professions, including lawyers and doctors, were granted exemptions from the new rules. Lawmakers gave newspaper companies a temporary reprieve that will let publishers continue classifying delivery drivers as contractors, but only for one year.
In their lawsuit, the freelancers argue the exemptions unfairly single out some professions at the expense of others. They specifically argue the law unfairly exempts marketing professionals from the new rules, but not journalists, creating an “irrational and arbitrary distinction.”
The freelancers’ lawsuit comes on the heels of news that sports websites owned by the publishing company Vox are severing ties with California-based freelance writers because of the law.
This story was originally published December 17, 2019 at 3:14 PM with the headline "California’s new gig economy law challenged in court by freelance writers."