California employers will be pleased to learn that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that a retail store reasonably believed that a freelance model who worked in irregular one- or two-day periods was not an “employee” under California law. Therefore, they found that the retailer’s good-faith defense—based on its view that the plaintiff was an independent contractor—defeated the model’s claim seeking penalties for failing to pay wages owed to an employee immediately at the conclusion of the employment relationship.
In Bijon Hill v. Walmart, Inc., the plaintiff did modeling work for Walmart, appearing in ten photo shoots over the course of one year, which amounted to 15 nonconsecutive working days over the year. Through her modeling agency—Scout Talent Management Agency—Hill earned a daily flat rate for each day of modeling services. Scout sent Walmart invoices, which were payable within 30 days. Therefore, Hill did not necessarily receive payment right away after each job. The plaintiff claimed that Walmart violated the California Labor Code provision requiring employers to pay employees immediately upon termination, arguing that each of the ten photo shoots were ten separate instances of employment and that she was “discharged” at the end of each shoot and should have been paid upon discharge. Hill sought $540,000 in penalties.
California law allows employers to avoid such penalties if there is a good faith dispute that...
A man has filed a lawsuit against his ex-girlfriend, a longtime Detroit police officer, claiming she fabricated stalking charges that landed him in jail before the case was dismissed. In a 24-page,...