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ARTICLE · 11 JULY 2012

Sotelo Decision Is Packed With Class Action Goodness

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A First Appellate District decision from May 31, 2012, Sotelo v. Medianews Group, Inc.; was published yesterday.

United StatesEmployment and HR
Thomas Kaufman
Thomas Kaufman
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A First Appellate District decision from May 31, 2012, Sotelo v. Medianews Group, Inc.; was published yesterday.  The opinion contains an in-depth discussion on class action concepts arising out of a case alleging misclassification of newspaper carriers as independent contractors.  The opinion cuts back on some pro-certification precedents, sets forth some anti-certification law for independent contractor cases, and contains some interesting observations about class certification in general.

Background Facts and Procedural Posture of Case

This was a newspaper carrier independent contract ("IC") misclassification case.  The proposed class consisted of people whom the defendant newspaper had hired as ICs to insert advertisements into newspapers, fold and bag newspapers, deliver newspapers to subscribers, and/or supervise others who performed those tasks. The proposed class was broken into two groups: "carriers" who did the actual folding, bagging and delivering, and

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