On Tuesday, June 16, the California Labor Commission ruled that a driver for the ride-sharing service Uber had been incorrectly classified as an "independent contractor." The commission found that the driver in question was an employee of the company and was due expenses and other costs.
ELA Founder and CEO and Hirschfeld Kraemer LLP Co-managing Partner Stephen J. Hirschfeld was quoted in both the San Francisco Chronicle and the Los Angeles Times regarding this development.
In the San Francisco Chronicle article "Uber driver an employee, California Labor Commission rules," Hirschfeld offered these thoughts on the significance of the commission's ruling:
"[California Labor Commission rulings] do not have any meaningful legal significance. The hearings are very slapdash; short, quick, low-key. Rules of evidence aren’t followed.”
In the Los Angeles Times article "Sharing economy gets a wake-up call with Uber ruling," Hirschfeld commented on the economic significance of sharing economy companies such as Uber having to classify workers as employees:
"Their economic structure, their financial structure, their corporate structure, how they organize their business model is all built upon assumptions that they're not employing people directly. If the courts come down and determine that you have to treat them as employees, these companies are probably going to have to reinvent themselves."