Yesterday, the US Supreme Court denied the California Trucking Association’s (CTA) petition for certiorari (a writ or order for which a higher court reviews a decision of a lower court) in its case against the State of California regarding AB5.
California’s AB5 redefined who can be classified as an independent contractor by tossing out decades of case law and implementing the ABC test instead. The ABC test says you can be an independent contractor if all of these apply: A) free from the control and direction of the hiring entity in connection with the performance of the work and in fact, B) perform work that is outside the usual course of the hiring entity’s business, and C) are customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation or business of the same nature as that involved in the work performed.
AB5 went into effective January 1, 2020, but an injunction has been in place precluding its enforcement in the trucking industry. With the high court’s denial to review, the injunction will be lifted, and the law’s application will be retroactive.
It is still too early to advise what the next steps will be for the state’s 70,000 independent truck drivers or the trucking industry.
We will keep you posted.