Prop. 22: California appeals court upholds most of gig driver law

A California appeals court docket reversed most of a ruling invalidating Proposition 22, the state’s 2020 voter-approved gig financial system legislation permitting large ride-hailing and supply corporations to categorise their staff as unbiased contractors fairly than workers.

The first District Court docket of Attraction decided Proposition 22 ought to stand, disagreeing with a 2021 ruling discovering that central provisions of the legislation conflicted with the state Structure, rendering the legislation unenforceable, and tossing it out in its entirety.

Nevertheless, the appeals court docket struck down a provision of the legislation limiting sure legislative amendments.

The court docket discovered that the poll measure had improperly outlined what constitutes an modification, in violation of the state structure’s separation of powers rules. The court docket severed provisions of Proposition 22 that limit the Legislature from making future amendments to the legislation.

The lower court’s ruling, made by Alameda County Superior Court docket Choose Frank Roesch in August 2021, discovered that the legislation conflicts with the state Structure by limiting the Legislature’s skill to manage staff’ compensation guidelines. The ruling additionally argues that Proposition 22 violates a constitutional provision requiring initiatives to be restricted to a “single topic.”

Proposition 22 has remained in impact by way of the appeals course of.

The Shield App-based Drivers & Companies coalition, which backed Proposition 22, celebrated the ruling as a “historic victory for the practically 1.4 million drivers who depend on the independence and adaptability of app-based work to earn revenue, and for the integrity of California’s initiative system.”

“The Appeals Court docket upheld the elemental coverage behind the measure,” Molly Weedn, a spokesperson for the coalition, stated in an e mail.

A 3-judge panel in San Francisco heard the case in December. Throughout the listening to, Justice Tracie L. Brown questioned the supply within the legislation limiting legislative amendments on collective bargaining as exterior the scope of Proposition 22’s acknowledged function and floated the hypothetical thought of putting down the one provision fairly than the entire legislation.

Proposition 22 went into impact originally of 2021. Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart and different app-based corporations spent greater than $200 million advertising and marketing the poll initiative to Californians as a boon to staff and clients alike.

For a whole lot of hundreds of drivers, Proposition 22 preserved the versatile schedules related to remaining an unbiased contractor however took away protections granted by a 2019 legislation, AB 5, requiring gig staff throughout many industries to be categorized as workers with stronger advantages such at least wage, additional time and staff’ compensation in case of damage.