Your textbook identifies the issue of the "Uber Independent Contractor". Are Uber drivers independent contractors or employees? This topic is a live issue - and has been since for quite some time.

• In 2018, the California Supreme Court established a rigid standard under California law for companies to classify workers as independent contractors in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court.
• In September of 2019, the California state legislature codified and expanded this decision in Assembly Bill 5 ("AB5").
• In October of 2020, a California appeals court upheld a decision from August of 2020 that required Uber and Lyft to reclassify their workers from independent contractors to employees with benefits.
• In November of 2020, and by a 58.63 percent majority, California voters approved Proposition 22, which overrode California law and the recently passed AB5 on the question ofwhether app-based drivers are employees or independent contractors, allowing ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft to continue classifying their drivers as independent contracts, albeit requiring the companies to provide some small additional benefits. (Interestingly, Uber, Lyft, and the food delivery app DoorDash spent more than $200 million in support of Proposition 22, making it the most expensive ballot measure campaign in California history.)
• On January 14, 2021, the California Supreme Court held that theDynamexdecision applies retroactively.
• As of spring of 2021, there are pending matters, including whether Prop 22 is unconstitutional and unenforceable.
• In the summer of 2022, Uber agreed to pay $8.4 million to settle a class-action lawsuit with California drivers who claimed they were misclassified as independent contractors, rather than employees.
• links file:///Users/bbygirlabbi/Downloads/12A%20(READ)%20Assembly%20Bill%205%20Passed%20Vox%20Article.pdf
• file:///Users/bbygirlabbi/Downloads/12B%20(READ)%20Rafael%20Mandelman%20Facebook%20Status.pdf

1. On June 18, 2019, San Francisco Supervisor Rafael Mandelman posted a Facebook status about his request for a hearing on the current state of workers rights in California's gig economy, in the context of the AB5, which was ultimately signed into law on September 18, 2019. Based on his Facebook status,do you think that San Francisco Supervisor Rafael Mandelman supports or opposes Uber's classification of its drivers as independent contractors? And upon what basis does he so believe?

2.In 2018, the Supreme Court established a a rigid standard for companies to classify workers as independent contractors called the "ABC" test in theDynamexdecision. Tohire an independent contractor, businesses must prove that the worker (a) is free from the company's control, (b) is doing work that isn't central to the company's business, and (c) has an independent business in that industry. Otherwise, the person being hired is an employee.

But even afterAB5 was passed by the California legislature, Uber still maintained that its drivers are independent contracters. Uber maintains that it has no plans to reclassify its drivers as employees, arguing that the usual course of Uber's business is defined as "serving as a technology platform for several different types of digital marketplaces" and that drivers should thus not be considered employees. Uber has also long argued that because it connects drivers to customers with an app, Uber is fundamentally a technology company, not a transportation company.

Based on the "ABC" test, it appears that Uber's "gig workers" would have been classified independent contractors, as opposedto employees? Please explain why.

3. California voters approved a measure that allowed companies like Uber to continue its classification of its drivers as independent contractors, who are not entitled to costly benefits such as unemployment, health insurance, and paid sick leave in contrast to employees. (

What is your opinion? Do you think ride-sharing drivers should be classified as independent contracts or as employees? You may consider different issues, such as impacts to the economy, to the drivers, to the state of food-delivery apps, and so on. There is no correct answer.