BOSTON (Legal Newsline) - A ballot measure that was certified by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey (D) was declared unconstitutional by the Massachusetts Supreme Court.
Had HB 1234 been left unchallenged, it would have allowed voters to decide if ride-share drivers should be categorized as independent contractors or full-time employees.
“We conclude that the petitions contain at least two substantively distinct policy decisions, one of which is buried in obscure language at the end of the petitions, and thus fail. As such, the Attorney General’s decision to certify the petitions was in error, and accordingly, the petitions may not be placed on the ballot,” the justices wrote.
A coalition of drivers and unions like the Massachusetts AFL-CIO opposed the ballot initiative because it would have codified ride-share drivers as independent contractors into state law, according to media reports.
“The downside of not being codified by HB 1234 for the drivers is that they have absolutely no protections,” said Sergio Avedian, senior contributor with the Rideshare Guy. “If you look at the history of these gig companies and what has happened in Massachusetts and many other cities is that the earnings of the drivers have consistently been lower and lower over the last 10 years.”
Some 200,000 rideshare drivers in Massachusetts will remain classified as independent contractors.
“Uber and Lyft had put language in there that was discovered right at the end that in the case of an accident of a rideshare driver, they were pulling themselves out of the liability issue,” Avedian told Legal Newsline. “Once that was discovered, the Supreme Court decided to withdraw the ballot initiative from the upcoming elections.”
Currently, Uber and Lyft provide drivers and their passengers with a million-dollar liability insurance policy that covers collision and bodily damage with $2,500 deductibles, according to Avedian.
“If all the liability is on the driver and there’s an accident and the passenger’s life is gone,” Avedian said. “That's just horrible for the driver.”
Gig economy platforms like Uber and Lyft had invested $17.8 million in a campaign to support the measure.
“There is pushback from a lot of legislatures around the country to pass a proposition like an AB 5, which was rushed in California and is backed by unions and labor lobbyists but there has to be a happy medium,” Avedian added. “We're not truly independent contractors, but at least we should have some benefits of being an employee. That’s what Prop 22 did in California but this ballot measure in Massachusetts went too far and it got struck down.”