Lawson

Raef Lawson worked as a restaurant delivery driver for Grubhub in Southern California for four months in late 2015 and early 2016. He complains that Grubhub improperly classified him as an independent contractor rather than an employee under California law and in doing so violated California's minimum wage, overtime and employee expense reimbursement laws. He brings his claims in his individual capacity and as a representative action pursuant to the California Private Attorney General Act (PAGA). The critical question is whether under California's common law Borello test, Mr. Lawson was an employee or an independent contractor. After considering all of the Borello factors as a whole in light of the trial record, the Court finds that Grubhub has satisfied its burden of showing that Mr. Lawson was properly classified as an independent contractor. While some factors weigh in favor of an employment relationship, Grubhub's lack of all necessary control over Mr. Lawson's work, including how he performed deliveries and even whether or for how long, along with other factors persuade the Court that the contractor classification was appropriate for Mr. Lawson during his brief tenure with…