7-Eleven, Franchisees Renew Battle Over What Defines a Worker

7-Eleven Inc. and some of the company’s Boston-area franchisees will go toe to toe at the First Circuit on Wednesday in a fight over whether Massachusetts law extends employee protections to those who operate the ubiquitous convenience stores.

The franchisees say a lower court wrongly concluded that they don’t perform services for the company and refused to apply Massachusetts’ “ABC test” for determining whether those who run the stores are employees or independent contractors, contradicting a 2022 state high court answer to a certified question earlier in the suit’s judicial odyssey.

The c-store chain urges the US Court of Appeals ...