Killing the Goose That Laid the Golden Egg: Outdated Employment Laws Are Destroying the Gig Economy
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Note
Killing the Goose That Laid the Golden Egg:
Outdated Employment Laws Are Destroying the
Gig Economy
Emily C. Atmore*
A college student trying to alleviate steep tuition costs in
between an erratic class schedule. A single mother saving for a
trip to Disney World with her five-year-old daughter. A salesman
subleasing his empty condo while he travels across the country.
A retiree looking for a productive activity to fill long days. A stay-
at-home mom with a lucrative knack for knitting.
What do all of these people have in common? They are your
Uber and Lyft drivers, Airbnb hosts, Instacart shoppers, and
Etsy shop owners. They are your neighbors, friends, and family.
They are the independent workforce. There are roughly fifty-four
million of them (and counting) and they comprise the gig econ-
omy.1
* J.D. Candidate 2018, University of Minnesota Law School; B.A. Busi-
ness Administration & Accounting, University of St. Thomas. I am grateful to
Professor Brett McDonnell who challenged and guided me during the research
and writing of this Note. Thank you to the board and staff of Minnesota Law
Review, especially Steve Owen, Dion Farganis, Ron Waclawski, and Frank
Guenthner, for their invaluable commentary, and Rebecca Krystosek, Mitch
Noordyke and Devin Driscoll, for their editorial expertise. Thank you also to my
friends and family for cheering me on from near and far. Most importantly, a
heartfelt thank you to my parents, Robert Atmore and Carolyn Cole, for their
unwavering support and endless encouragement in law school and in everything
else I do. Copyright C 2017 by Emily C. Atmore.
1. McKINSEY GLOBAL INST., INDEPENDENT WORK: CHOICE, NECESSITY
AND THE GIG ECONOMY 3 (Oct. 2016), http://www.mckinsey.com/global-themes/
employment-and-growthlindependent-work-choice-necessity-and-the-gig
-economy (Overall, our research suggests that there are 54 million to 68 million
independent earners in the United States . . . .); Stephane Kasriel, No, We
Won't All Be Freelancers in the Future of Work, FAST CO. (Oct. 24, 2017), https://
www.fastcompany.com/40484760/no-we-wont-all-be-freelancers-in-the-future
-of-work (Over 57 million Americans took on freelance work in some capacity
[in 2017]-that's 36% of the U.S. workforce, up from 53 million in 2014.).
887](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/mnlr102&div=24&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Killing the Goose That Laid the Golden Egg: Outdated Employment Laws Are Destroying the Gig Economy
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