In a recent California case, the issue was raised as to whether or not the parties were employees or independent contractors. The question of whether or not an individual is an employee or independent contractor comes up frequently and the principles for making such determination are worth discussion.
Two individual plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against the Rideshare Port Management LLC, seeking to recover for various alleged violations of the wage and hour laws. The defendants filed a motion for summary judgment to dismiss the actions, which was granted by the trial court, which ruled that the plaintiffs were not employees that would be entitled to the protection of the wage and hour laws, but independent contractors. The plaintiffs appealed.