CullenLaw Files Amicus Brief in Important Olson v. Bonta AB 5 California Worker Classification Litigation

On January 22, 2024, CullenLaw filed an amicus brief on behalf of our client the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, Inc., to weigh in on the Olson v. Bonta challenge to AB 5 now being reheard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit sitting en banc.  The amicus brief argues that the en banc court should reach the same decision as the Circuit’s panel in the application of an equal protection standard to AB 5.  OOIDA’s pending challenge to AB 5 relies, in part, on the panel decision that the parties had adequately stated an equal protection claim for relief based, in part, on the animus of the legislature in passing AB 5. 

 The State in Olson argues that the panel’s decision will result in a flood of new litigation against AB 5.  But just because one set of workers may not have demonstrated their equal protection claim against AB 5, that does not foreclose the equal protection claims of other types of workers who present different facts and are affected by different sections of the same law.  Because the Ninth Circuit panel’s decision looks specifically at the parties in Olson (gig workers) and applicable sections of AB 5 (exceptions for some gig workers), the Olson opinion should neither create nor foreclose the equal protection claims of different types of workers focused on different sections of the same law.

Interestingly, the federal government weighed in with its own amicus brief, stating that it had an interest in protecting the rational basis standard for equal protection claims.

A copy of OOIDA’s amicus brief can be found here, a copy of the United States’ amicus brief can be found here, and a Law360 article about the filings in this matter can be found here.