The U.S. Supreme Court has denied the petition claiming the Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) law violates freelance journalists’ right to free speech.
According to Reuters, the American Society for Journalists and Authors (ASJA) and the National Press Photographers Association, the groups representing freelance workers, filed the petition against the “controversial” AB5 because it exempts other workers from the law but not them.
The California Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) defined AB5 as a bill the Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law in September 2019 addressing employment status when “a hiring entity claims that the person it hired is an independent contractor.”
It further said that AB5 now requires the “ABC test” application to determine whether California workers are employees or independent contractors.
Reuters reported that in a 2019 lawsuit, ASJA claimed that the AB5 law unreasonably hinders freelance writers from being treated as independent contractors based on the content of their speech while exempting similar work performed for marketing and artistic purposes.
Under the AB5 law, businesses would be more challenged to treat workers as independent contractors rather than employees, according to Reuters.
Moreover, the news outlet said this would be a big hit for freelancers considering that freelance groups claimed that most freelance workers generate more income as independent contractors and could be out of work altogether...
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