The First Department of the Supreme Court, Appellate Division (the "Appellate Division") recently issued the first appellate decision interpreting New York City's Freelance Isn't Free Act (FIFA).1 Plaintiffs – a photography business and a model – first filed an administrative complaint against a high-end fashion label for failure to pay them in full for a photoshoot that took place in October 2019, and subsequently filed suit in state court after the fashion label failed to respond.2 The central issue on appeal was whether the model could properly be deemed a "freelance worker" under FIFA when, as here, she was represented by a modeling agency. The Appellate Division ruled that representation by an agent does not necessarily disqualify a worker from FIFA's freelance worker protections.
Enacted in 2016 and effective as of May 15, 2017, FIFA is what the Appellate Division described as "the first act of its kind in this country to provide legal protections for freelance workers against nonpayment for work performed."3 FIFA defines a "freelancer worker" as "any natural person or organization composed of no more than one natural person, whether or not incorporated or employing a trade name, that is hired or retained as an independent contractor by a hiring party to provide services in exchange for compensation."4 In certain circumstances, FIFA mandates that agreements for freelance work be reduced to writing, and that freelance workers be paid...
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