Dive Brief:
- It didn't take long. Just weeks after Amazon Prime Now, the e-tailer's same-day delivery service, debuted in the Orange County CA region, four drivers are suing, claiming they were wrongly denied benefits and wages by being classified as independent contractors and not employees, according to the Orange County Register.
- Attorney Beth Ross of Leonard Carder LLP, who represents the four, is asking for class certification, the article reports.
- Prime Now's goal is to deliver certain Amazon products in less than two hours to various cities in Orange and Los Angeles counties. Amazon uses a subcontractor, Scoobeez, a delivery provider that employs hundreds of independent drivers, and the latter also was named in the lawsuit.
Dive Insight:
“Amazon’s mission to deliver ‘Now’ at no additional cost to its customers is being funded by the delivery drivers,” said Ross in a statement. “Unlike the drones that Amazon hopes to eventually replace them with, these drivers are human beings with rent to pay and families to feed.”
According to the article, this latest lawsuit follows two similar court cases, as Ross also sued FedEx Ground over a similar independent contractor dispute and settled the case for $227 million. Uber drivers in California have also sued and successfully been granted class action status, claiming they have been misclassified as contractors.
This is another in a series of past and no doubt future litigation focusing on the employee vs. independent contractor debate. HR leaders may have a tough time following all the legal actions, but it's important to keep tabs as cases develop.
