Class Action Spotify Lawsuit Alleging Violations of Employment Law

Matthew Elias, of California, filed a class-action lawsuit against Spotify alleging misclassification and failure to provide legally mandated meal breaks and rest periods. Elias filed suit on his behalf and on behalf of others in similar situations who are allegedly “aggrieved.” According to the lawsuit, Elias, a nonexempt employee of Spotify from July 2016 through July 2018, was reportedly misclassified as an independent contractor approximately one year into his tenure.  

Elias Seeks Compensation for Loss of Benefits:

As a result, Elias sought counsel to help him seek compensation for Spotify’s failure to provide him with the same benefits other nonexempt employees receive under FLSA (the Fair Labor Standards Act). Worker protections offered under FLSA include overtime pay requirements (workers must be paid one and half times their hourly rate for hours worked over 40 in one week or 8 in one day), legally mandated meal breaks and rest periods, etc. Elias alleges that the company forced him to use personal funds to purchase cellular data services and streaming services. He claims the expenses were business expenses, and the company should have covered the costs.

Moving the Case From State Court to Federal Court:

Elias filed the lawsuit in the District Court for the Central District of California. Spotify did not immediately make a public comment on the filing, but they did file a request to move the case from state court to federal court since the streaming giant is registered in Delaware. The federal venue will likely be more favorable for Spotify than California state since California passed stringent worker classification laws under AB5 effective January 1, 2020. Legal counsel for Spotify also argued that the case move to a federal courtroom because potential damages could be more than $75,000 (including a minimum of $110,086.40 in allegedly owed overtime wages alone).

California’s Worker Classification Laws Under AB5:

Effective January 1st, California’s AB5 is designed to decrease the abuse of the independent contractor classification by employers. The legislation was inspired to address the massive issue in the ride-share industry, but while Uber and Lyft openly refuse to comply, many other sectors are feeling the effect of change as it ripples across the state. Thousands (or hundreds of thousands, we can’t be sure) of contract workers have been released from work without replacement jobs as many are merely turning to different states or overseas job markets where independent contracting is entirely legal. AB5 currently faces significant backlash from various industries like the trucking industry that are being hard hit by the legislation.

AB5 and California State’s Music Industry:

The new law may be disastrous to the state’s music industry as music productions often involve various hired musicians, assistants, etc. most of which are traditionally hired as independent contractors for the event, performance, gig, etc. While dozens of industries successfully crafted agreements defining needed exemptions to AB5, the RIAA was not able to do so for musicians, labels, and other music industry groups. Some suspect the failure to obtain exemptions for the music industry successfully was likely due to in-fighting amidst musician unions.

If you need to file a misclassification lawsuit or if you need to discuss other employment law violations, don’t hesitate to get in touch with Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik DeBlouw LLP. Experienced employment law attorneys are ready to assist you in any one of various law firm offices located in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Riverside, and Chicago.