For the time being, AB5 will be kept out of the trucking industry in California.
The United States Supreme Court on Monday demanded that the United States solicitor general, who represents the federal government in court, weigh in on the matter of the California Trucking Association (CTA) vs. Robert Bonta, the state’s attorney general.
The court convened a conference on CTA’s appeal on Friday, and the court might reject CTA’s request for a review of its lower court defeats in the appellate process as early as Monday. If the review is denied, AB5 and its implications for the hiring of independent contractors will go into effect immediately in the state.
With the court seeking the opinion of the solicitor general on the matter, the injunction that the CTA obtained at the start of 2020, preventing the execution of AB5 against trucks, will remain in effect for the time being. While the injunction was issued by a federal district court at the same time as AB5 was being implemented in the state, it was later overturned by two appellate courts, who disputed the legal reasoning behind the injunction but allowed it to stand while it was appealed.
With the Supreme Court now requesting the solicitor general’s opinion on the legal question, the injunction is likely to be renewed.
The main legal question in the courts is whether the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act, sometimes known as the F4A, passed in the early 1990s would effectively impede the execution of AB5 in California. F4A has wording that prevents states from passing legislation that affects “prices, routes, and services.” The district court that issued the injunction claimed that AB5 was responsible; however, the appellate courts disagreed, and the CTA appealed those findings.
