California rideshare drivers are employees, not contractors, according to a panel of 11 judges on the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Their jurists overturned a previous appeal in which the courts had ruled in favor of Uber and other rideshare companies.
The battle isn’t over yet.
Craig Barkacs, a professor of law at the University of San Diego, told NBC7 that “it’s not clear what’s going to happen with AB5 in terms of people being hired by the delivery industry or rideshare companies and here is why: Prop 22 that reclassified the employees is now going through the court system in California, and it remains to be seen if Prop 22 is constitutional in California.”
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In 2022, California voters said yes to Proposition 22, which was supported by companies like Uber because it reclassified drivers as contractors, not employees. It is being challenged in the California Supreme Court. A hearing on its merits has already taken place, but no decision has been handed down.
Barkacs says employees want Prop 22 to be declared unconstitutional.
“Now, on the flip side, labor, for example, says, 'Wait a minute, AB 5 is designed to protect people being hired and treated like employees,' and Prop 22 basically stripped them of some of those employee rights,” Barkacs told NBC 7.
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Both AB5 and Proposition 22 are in flux, said Barkacs: “There has not been a final determination one way or the other.”
Other states are closely watching California to see how these issues get sorted out. A final decision on the classification of rideshare drivers may rest with the U.S. Supreme Court
