SAN DIEGO – The City of San Diego recently announced that City Attorney Mara W. Elliott has filed a lawsuit against on-demand grocery shopping service Instacart regarding its classification of workers.
“Overall, I see this all the time in California,” Maryann Marino, regional director of the group Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA), said regarding the suit. “It seems like California’s legal environment is continually stacked against our business owners and prevents them to move forward.”
In the 11-page complaint, Elliott alleged that Instacart purposely misclassifies its workers as independent contractors rather than employees. Instacart is an app-based service in which customers can order their groceries online and have them delivered the same day to their homes.
Maryann Marino, Regional Director of CALA
| Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse
By saying that Instacart shoppers are independent contractors, Elliott argues, the company has an unfair advantage over similar services. Also, the classification allows Instacart to avoid paying minimum wages to workers, as well as taxes for unemployment and disability insurance.
"[Instacart] unlawfully defers substantial expenses to its shoppers, including the cost of equipment, car registration, insurance, gas, maintenance, parking fees and cell phone data usage," Elliott said, adding that Instacart shoppers are actually employees entitled to benefits such as minimum wages, overtime pay, “meal breaks, paid rest breaks and reimbursement for expenses necessary to perform the job.”
Marino said that although CALA could not comment on specific cases, the group encourages both sides to explore alternative avenues toward a resolution.
“CALA doesn’t think that lawsuits are the best remedy,” said Marino.
San Diego's lawsuit was filed in California Superior Court.