People v. Maplebear, Inc. CA4/1

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 17, 2021
DocketD077380
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Maplebear, Inc. CA4/1 (People v. Maplebear, Inc. CA4/1) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Maplebear, Inc. CA4/1, (Cal. Ct. App. 2021).

Opinion

Filed 2/17/21 P. v. Maplebear, Inc. CA4/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF D077380 CALIFORNIA,

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. 37-2019- 00048731-CU-MC-CTL) v.

MAPLEBEAR, INC.,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of San Diego County, Timothy Taylor, Judge. Reversed and remanded. Keker, Van Nest & Peters, Rachael E. Meny, Benjamin Berkowitz, Ryan K. Wong, Erin E. Meyer, Julia L. Allen, Donna Zamora-Stevens, Taylor Reeves and Melissa Cornell for Defendant and Appellant. Littler Mendelson, Bruce J. Sarchet and Michael J. Lotito for Independent Women’s Law Center as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Defendant and Appellant. Jones Day, Craig E. Stewart and Eric Tung for Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, California Grocers Association, Bay Area Council, San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, and Valley Industry and Commerce Association as Amici Curiae on behalf of Defendant and Appellant. Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, Haley Jankowski, Julia C. Riechert and Jessica R. Perry for David R. Henderson and Other Academics and Economists as Amici Curiae for Defendant and Appellant. Willenken, Amelia L. B. Sargent and Kenneth M. Trujillo-Jamison for California Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce, California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, California State National Action Network, Los Angeles Metropolitan Churches, Los Angeles Urban League, National Action Network Sacramento Chapter Inc., National Asian American Coalition, National Diversity Coalition, and National Newspaper Publishers Association as Amici Curiae on behalf of Defendant and Appellant. Durie Tangri, Benjamin B. Au and Raghav R. Krishnapriyan for Independent Drivers Association of California, Tony Do, and Jim Pyatt as Amici Curiae on behalf of Defendant and Appellant. Mara W. Elliott, City Attorney, Mark Ankcorn, Chief Deputy City Attorney, Kevin B. King, Deputy City Attorney for Plaintiff and Respondent.

Maplebear, Inc. dba Instacart (hereinafter “Instacart”) appeals from a preliminary injunction enjoining and restraining Instacart from “failing to comply with California employment law with regard to its Full-Service Shopper employees within the City of San Diego.” The superior court issued the injunction after finding the People of the State of California, acting by and through the San Diego City Attorney, (hereinafter “the City”) demonstrated a probability of success on their claim Instacart was improperly classifying Full-Service Shoppers as independent contractors, and

2 not employees, based on the ABC test set forth in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Super. Ct. (2018) 4 Cal.5th 903 (Dynamex). Instacart asserts the superior court lacked authority to issue the preliminary injunction because it had previously filed a motion to compel arbitration and a request to stay the action pending resolution of the motion pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 1281.4. Alternatively, Instacart asserts the superior court erred by granting the preliminary injunction because the Full-Service Shoppers are motor carriers and a federal statute (49 U.S.C. § 13102(14), “the FAAAA”) preempts application of the ABC test to motor carriers, the City did not prove a probability of success under the ABC test even if it is applicable, and the balance of harms did not weigh in favor of granting the preliminary injunction. Instacart also asserts the injunction is impermissibly vague. In November, while this appeal was pending, the people of California voted to enact Proposition 22, “App-Based Drivers as Contractors and Labor Policies Initiative (2020)” (hereinafter “Proposition 22”). Instacart requests this court take judicial notice of Proposition 22 and asserts Proposition 22 is a significant change in law that directly permits the classification of the Full- Service shoppers as independent contractors. Accordingly, Instacart contends the injunction must be reversed and the matter remanded to the superior court for further proceedings in light of Proposition 22. We are not persuaded the superior court lacked the authority to rule on the preliminary injunction motion, but agree the preliminary injunction as issued is impermissibly vague, particularly in light of the changes to the law effectuated by Proposition 22. We therefore reverse the order and remand

3 the matter to the superior court for further proceedings consistent with this

opinion.1 FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND A In April 2019, the California Supreme Court adopted the standard commonly referred to as the “ABC test” for determining whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor. (See Dynamex, supra, 4 Cal.5th at pp. 916-917.) “Under this test, a worker is properly considered an independent contractor to whom a wage order does not apply only if the hiring entity establishes: (A) that the worker is free from the control and direction of the hirer in connection with the performance of the work, both under the contract for the performance of such work and in fact; (B) that the worker performs work that is outside the usual course of the hiring entity's business; and (C) that the worker is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, or business of the same nature as the work performed for the hiring entity.” (Ibid.)

1 We have read and considered the amicus curiae briefs submitted by the following parties: The Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, California Grocers Association, Bay Area Council, San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, and Valley Industry and Commerce Association (collectively, “CCUS”); The Independent Women’s Law Center (“IWLC”); David R. Henderson and other academics and economists (collectively, “Henderson”); The Independent Drivers Association of California and Tony Do and Jim Pyatt (collectively “Individual Shoppers”); and The California Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce, California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, California State National Action Network, CA-NAACP State Conference, Los Angeles Metropolitan Churches, Los Angeles Urban League, National Action Network Sacramento Chapter Inc., National Asian American Coalition, National Diversity Coalition, and National Newspaper Publishers Association (“Communities-of-Color Organizations”). 4 Thereafter, in September 2019, the California Legislature enacted Assembly Bill No. 5, which clarified and codified the ABC test set forth in Dynamex and gave city attorneys meeting certain criteria the authority to seek injunctive relief to prevent the misclassification of employees as independent contractors based on the ABC test. (See Assem. Bill No. 5; Lab. Code, § 2750.3 [eff. Jan. 1, 2020; repealed by Stats. 2020, ch. 38 (Assem. Bill No. 2257), § 1, eff. Sept. 4, 2020]; Lab. Code, § 2775 [replacing § 2750.3].) The Legislature acknowledged the legally-defined exceptions to the application of the ABC test and further indicated, if a court of law rules the ABC test cannot be applied to a particular context, the alternative test set forth in S. G. Borello & Sons, Inc. v. Department of Industrial Relations (1989) 48 Cal.3d 341 (Borello) shall govern. (See Lab. Code, § 2775, subd. (b)(3); prev. Lab. Code, § 2750.3, subd.

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People v. Maplebear, Inc. CA4/1, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-maplebear-inc-ca41-calctapp-2021.