Daily Journal Quotes Gary McLaughlin on Lawsuit Against California’s Assembly Bill 5
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In “Judge throws out journalists’ case against AB 5,” Daily Journal quoted Akin Gump labor and employment partner Gary McLaughlin regarding the implications of a California district court decision to dismiss a suit by freelance journalists’ against Assembly Bill 5.
The article notes that AB 5 has been challenged in several lawsuits. McLaughlin, whose practice focuses on employer representation in a variety of actions and matters, said he does not think that this decision will impact pending legislation elsewhere due to the fact that, as he puts it, the plaintiffs “were making some arguments that were pretty unique to their industry and the particular exceptions in AB 5 that apply to them, especially the free speech argument.” He added that he did not think other industries could make a similar argument.
By way of illustration, he compared the journalists’ litigation with another AB 5 complaint, this one involving Uber and Postmates. He said the law doesn’t target gig economy workers in the same way, so that the plaintiffs are “not able to go after a particular provision…They’re really attacking the law as a whole. The types of arguments they’re making, if they’re successful, could have much broader applications.”