The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California recently cited Cynthia Estlund’s Article, What Should We Do After Work? Automation and Employment Law, in a decision approving a preliminary settlement of class claims against Uber. See O’Connor v. Uber Technologies, Inc., No. 15-cv-00262-EMC, 2019 WL 1427101, at *9 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 29, 2019).

The parties in O’Connor had agreed to settle two lawsuits alleging that Uber misclassified drivers as independent contractors instead of as employees. Id. at *1. In granting the parties’ motion for preliminary approval of the settlement agreement, the court discussed recent California precedent that scholars, including Estlund, have argued makes it harder for Uber and other companies in the “gig economy” to categorize their as workers independent contractors. Id. Estlund’s Article, which argues for shifting the burden of certain work-based entitlements away from employers to reduce their incentives to automate jobs or reclassify employees as independent contractors, is available here.