In a stunning decision Friday that departs from nearly 90 years of Supreme Court decisions, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has allowed a constitutional challenge to Assembly Bill 5, the 2019 California law meant to protect low-wage workers.
The ruling is especially shocking and troubling because in 2021 the same court rejected exactly the same challenge to the same law. The turnabout in Friday’s decision is likely to open the door to constitutional challenges to countless state business regulations.
The case, Olson v. State of California, was brought by Uber and Postmates to challenge AB 5’s requirements that drivers for those companies be treated not as independent contractors, but as employees subject to the protections of minimum wage, overtime, workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance and anti-discrimination laws.
