California High Court Takes Independent Contractor Initiative

The California Supreme Court agreed Wednesday to decide whether an initiative backed by Uber, DoorDash, and other gig companies lawfully permits them to treat workers as independent contractors.

Justices unanimously granted a petition to review an appellate ruling on the voter-approved Proposition 22 carving out gig workers from a California law known as AB 5. The law makes it harder to classify workers as independent contractors and codified a 2018 California Supreme Court ruling.

The appeals court in March held that Prop. 22 “does not intrude on the Legislature’s workers’ compensation authority or violate the single-subject rule, ...