"Uber and Postmates sue to block California’s new gig worker law" 31 Dec 2019

Rideshare company Uber and on-demand order delivery service Postmates sued Monday to block a new California law that could fundamentally alter how tech giants engage with workers.

The law, set to take effect on Wednesday, changes the way businesses classify employees and dramatically expands protections for gig workers. It creates the nation’s strictest test by which workers must be considered employees and it could start a precedent for other states.

In a lawsuit filed in US court in Los Angeles on Monday, Uber and Postmates argued however that the law violates federal and state constitutional guarantees of equal protection and due process.

Uber said it will try to link the lawsuit to another legal challenge filed by associations representing freelance writers and photographers. In mid-December, the two groups argued the new law would unconstitutionally affect free speech by limiting how many stories they can produce...

The lawsuit contends that the law exempts some industries but includes ride-share and delivery companies without a rational basis for distinguishing between them. It alleges that the law also infringes on workers’ rights to choose how they make a living and could void their existing contracts.

Democratic assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez of San Diego countered that she wrote the law to extend employee rights to more than a million California workers who lack benefits, including a minimum wage, mileage reimbursements, paid sick leave, medical coverage, and disability pay for on-the-job injuries.