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79 Wash. & Lee L. Rev. 899 (2022-2023)
California and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Statutory Employee Classification Scheme

handle is hein.journals/waslee79 and id is 889 raw text is: California and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Statutory Employee Classification Scheme Richard H. Gilliland III* Abstract The battle over worker classification between state governments, on the one hand, and gig economy companies, on the other, has raged since at least the first time someone ordered an Uber. Nowhere has this battle played out more prominently in recent years than in California. In 2019, the state legislature passed AB 5, a bill which adopted a stringent independent contractor standard and effectively classified all gig economy workers as employees of the companies whose apps they use to find work. AB 5's ripple effects were enormous-the significant popularity of gig economy apps among consumers launched what might have been obscure, legalistic wrangling about worker classification standards to the forefront of the public consciousness. The bill's passage engendered public outcry, legal challenges, media hysterics, and a record-breaking referendum initiative whose outcome is still the subject of litigation. In a sense, strong reactions to a bill like AB 5 are to be expected-worker classification schemes strike at the heart of individuals' ability to earn income and to receive certain protections and benefits reserved only for employees. But largely missing from the fevered debate over AB 5 has been a close examination of the bill's place in the long history of worker * J.D. Candidate, Class of 2022, Washington and Lee University School of Law; B.A. in Global Affairs, 2013, Yale University. Thank you to Professor Sarah Haan for her guidance and mentorship throughout the drafting and editing phases; to the editors of the Washington and Lee Law Review for making this publication possible; and to my family for their never-ending love, support, and encouragement. 899

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