Elijahjuan

I respectfully disagree with my colleagues’ conclusion that the parties’ dispute does not fall within the arbitration provisions of their contracts and that it is unnecessary to decide the remaining issues in this appeal. For the reasons below, I would reach the other bases of the trial court’s ruling, affirming in part and conditionally reversing in part and remanding for the trial court to consider whether the arbitration provisions are unconscionable.

Plaintiffs are owner-operator truckdrivers who make deliveries to defendants’ customers. Plaintiffs sued defendants, claiming their contracts with defendants, the “Broker/Carrier Agreement” or the “Transportation Agreement,” incorrectly characterize plaintiffs as independent contractors. The agreements include extensive provisions regarding plaintiffs’ compensation. Nevertheless, plaintiffs claim they are employees and were denied wage and hour benefits under the Labor Code. The parties’ contracts contain dispute resolution provisions requiring the parties to submit their disputes to arbitration.

Defendants moved to compel arbitration, and the trial court granted the motion. The court declined to decide whether the arbitration…

The difference between an employee and an independent contractor is significant if for no other reason than employees enjoy benefits not afforded independent contractors. Here, petitioners alleged that real parties in interest misclassified them as independent contractors when they were employees. That allegation underlies every cause of action in this lawsuit.

The sole substantive issue on appeal is whether the parties agreed to arbitrate their dispute. We conclude that the dispute falls outside the arbitration provision, which applies only to disputes regarding the “application or interpretation” of the parties’ contracts. The dispute in this case is unrelated to the substance of the parties’ contractual obligations, and instead depends on extracontractual legal obligations an employer owes its employees, but does not owe its independent contractors. The trial court granted real parties in interest’s motion to compel arbitration. We treat this appeal from a nonappealable order as a petition for writ of mandate, and grant the petition.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Hireem Elijahjuan, Dave Van Huynh, Julio Hernandez, and James Love filed a first amended complaint…