California Courts Grapple With Proposition 22’s Gig Fallout

Uber Technologies Inc., Lyft Inc., and other gig companies want California courts to throw out rulings from last year that ordered them to treat drivers as employees, setting the stage for legal clashes that could mean millions owed to workers in cases filed before Proposition 22 passed.

How the voter-approved ballot measure will apply to pending cases involving app-based companies and California regulators raises complex issues that will work their way through state courts, starting at the trial level, attorneys said.

“It isn’t as simple as Prop. 22 passed, Uber wins,” said Katherine Catlos, a management-side attorney with ...