LA Man's Grubhub Lawsuit Could Determine If App-Based Workers Are Employees

By Tom Joyce | Center Square contributor, The Center Square California

April 1, 2023

(The Center Square) - A Los Angeles man was recently awarded a $65.11 win in a federal lawsuit. However, the lawsuit could have a greater impact than financial compensation.

“Raef Lawson is the first gig worker in America to be declared an employee by a court for wage law purposes,” lawyer Shannon Liss-Riordan told Bloomberg on Friday.

Lawson is a former Grubhub Inc. driver. On Thursday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley ruled that he was a Grubhub employee, not an independent contractor during his tenure with the company.

The aspiring actor briefly drove for the food-delivery service app in 2015 and 2016. Corley ordered Grubhub to pay Lawson $65.11 for minimum wage violation. Lawson received no compensation for overtime because he never worked more than 40 hours in one week for the company.

The ruling marked the end of an eight-year-old case that had been watched closely by the gig economy industry.

The ruling may determine if drivers qualify under California law to receive reimbursement for their personal vehicle expenses – and if they can make retroactive claims.

In the suit, Grubhub argued that workers like Lawson are not employees since they set their own hours and operate like free-standing businesses.

Corley disagreed, arguing that he met California’s definition of an employee, including that the work he did for Grubhub was “not outside its usual course of business,” according to Bloomberg.

The focus of the work of The Center Square California is state and local-level government and economic reporting that approaches stories with a taxpayer sensibility.