BOSTON — Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell’s Office has filed an amicus brief with the U.S Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in the case Patel v. 7-Eleven, urging the court to reverse a decision that misinterprets the Massachusetts statute that protects employees from being misclassified as independent contractors.
In the brief, the AG’s Office argues that Massachusetts has a compelling interest in ensuring the proper interpretation of state laws governing wages and hours for workers, including the independent contractor statute, which prohibits the misclassification of employees as independent contractors. The AG’s Office argues that the District Court was incorrect in dismissing 7-Eleven franchise owners’ claims that they are employees of 7-Eleven. In the brief, the AG’s Office writes that the District Court misconstrued the threshold inquiry of the independent contractor statute, which establishes a presumption that a worker who “performs any service” for an employer is an employee. The AG’s Office argues in its brief that, if upheld, the District Court’s interpretation would harm workers and complicate the AG’s Office’s enforcement of the independent contractor statute and other statutory protections for workers.
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