9th Circuit Truckers Ruling Drives Home Limits Of Preemption

Los Angeles Partner Mark Phillips recently talked with Law360 in their article "9th Circ. Truckers Ruling Drives Home Limits Of Preemption."

The article discusses how the Ninth Circuit’s recent finding that federal law does not preempt California’s standard for determining whether workers are employees or independent contractors throws another roadblock in the trucking industry’s efforts to sidestep state labor regulations that it claims interfere with interstate transport.

In the article, Mark mentions that the Ninth Circuit has declined to extend a federal rule in a way that would encroach on the state’s ability to define the relationships between employers and employees or independent contractors with those they contract with. “The court’s response to some extent is putting the foot of the court down and saying no, this is where we stand, at the limits of this federal statute,” Mark said. “You’re not going to be able to hold up a federal rule to get out of an obligation on a state level, particularly a common law standard.”

Read the Law360 article

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