California Courts Grapple With Proposition 22’s Gig Fallout, Bloomberg Law, ft. Katherine Catlos

Katherine S. Catlos, partner at Kaufman Dolowich & Voluck LLP in San Francisco, and Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer, was quoted in a Bloomberg Law article published on February 25, 2021.

Uber Technologies Inc., Lyft Inc., and other gig companies want California courts to throw out rulings from last year that ordered them to treat drivers as employees, setting the stage for legal clashes that could mean millions owed to workers in cases filed before Proposition 22 passed.

How the voter-approved ballot measure will apply to pending cases involving app-based companies and California regulators raises complex issues that will work their way through state courts, starting at the trial level, attorneys said.

“It isn’t as simple as Prop. 22 passed, Uber wins,” said Katherine Catlos, a management-side attorney with Kaufman Dolowich Voluck LLP.

California’s ongoing gig worker classification disputes stand in stark contrast to developments in countries like the U.K., where its top court unanimously held last week that Uber drivers are entitled to minimum wages, holiday pay, and rest breaks—the type of job benefits available to only employees in the U.S.

Read more at the full article.