A Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court case decided in May, offers a caution to those who hire independent contractors. A Massachusetts-based company hired independent contractors who lived and worked in New York State to act as couriers delivering packages.
Three of these contract couriers sued in Massachusetts, for themselves, and in a class action, for all similarly situated individuals. The lawsuit claimed that the Massachusetts employer had misclassified them in violation of the independent contractor statute. They claimed, that as employees, the employer owed them wages and overtime.
The case decided that the more strict laws of Massachusetts applied to these employment contracts.