Freelancers sue Department of Labor over vague, new contracting rule

Atlanta; January 16, 2024: Today, the founders of Fight For Freelancers, a coalition of more than 2,500 freelancers in professions ranging from writing to truck driving, filed a lawsuit challenging a new Department of Labor rule that encourages businesses to classify contractors as employees.

“The Labor Department’s new classification rule makes it harder to be an independent contractor by muddying the waters between who is an independent contractor and who is an employee. These rules chill Americans’ ability to work by threatening businesses with ruinous civil and criminal liability,” said Pacific Legal Foundation attorney Wilson Freeman.

The new rule is so vague and uncertain that only the DOL itself can tell if an independent contracting relationship exists. It has made this change with a wholly inadequate justification, leaving millions of contractors twisting in the wind.

“Opposition among independent contractors to this proposed rule change has been widespread and overwhelming—just as they were with previous state and federal legislative attempts to limit the choice of self-employment since 2019,” said Kim Kavin of Fight For Freelancers. “Misclassifying us as employees is not protecting us. It is attacking us and attempting to destroy our chosen careers.”

The case is Warren v. U.S. Department of Labor, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.