Ninth Circuit: California Wage Claims Do Not Usurp Public Utility Commission's Jurisdiction
As we recently discussed, interplay between state wage-and-hour laws and other statutes (federal or state) is not always seamless, as neither the state wage statute nor the competing law or regulation at issue properly addresses the extent to which their scope might interfere with each other. However, as employment statutes, the wage-and-hour laws are often construed broadly, and some courts are reluctant to limit their scope regardless of the presence of another statute. In a recent example of this judicial reticence, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed a trial court decision finding that a district court could not adjudicate plaintiffs’ state wage-and-hour law claims against SuperShuttle because it lacked subject matter jurisdiction. Kairy v. SuperShuttle Int'l, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 22161 (9th Cir. Nov. 3, 2011).
Plaintiffs, “franchisee” van drivers for SuperShuttle in California, allege they were misclassified as independent contractors for the purposes of various provisions of the California Labor Code. The trial court applied a three-part test laid out by the California Supreme Court to resolve conflicts potentially implicating the jurisdiction of Public Utilities Commission (“PUC”). The trial judge determined that: 1) the PUC had authority to formulate policy regarding the classification of all drivers for so-called passenger stage corporations (“PSCs”), including SuperShuttle; 2) the PUC had exercised such authority by issuing a General Order relating to PSC conduct, and a decision interpreting that order; and, accordingly 3) that to allow plaintiffs’ wage action to proceed would interfere with this regulation of PSC drivers. Id. at 6-7. In reversing, the appellate court acknowledged that the PUC had authority to regulate the relationship between a PSC, such as SuperShuttle, and its drivers, and that it was a “close” question as to whether the General Order issued by the PUC constituted an exercise of this authority. However, the appellate court ruled that application of the wage/hour laws would not interfere with the PUC regulations governing drivers. Thus, the Public Utilities Code was “not implicated, and the district court retains subject matter jurisdiction over this case.”
Public sector employers, and all businesses performing work for public sector entities, must closely analyze the interplay of employment statutes and the regulatory environment governing their particular industry.
