Trucking news and briefs for Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021:
The United States Supreme Court on Monday invited the Solicitor General to file a brief expressing the federal government’s views on whether the Supreme Court should hear California Trucking Association’s suit claiming federal law preempts California’s AB 5 for the trucking industry. AB 5, if applied to trucking, would effectively ban the leased owner-operator model in California.
According to Transportation specialists Scopelitis, Garvin, Light, Hansen and Feary, “it is not uncommon for the [Supreme] Court to ask for the Solicitor General’s views on matters of federal preemption.” The Solicitor General is the federal government’s representative before the Supreme Court.
There is no deadline for the Solicitor General’s brief to be filed. After it is filed, SCOTUS will meet again to determine if it will hear the AB 5 case.
The AB 5 bill, which institutes the restrictive ABC test for determining independent contractor status, took effect in California in January 2020. A federal district court, however, granted an injunction that exempted the trucking industry from the law.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has since ruled that AB 5 was not preempted by the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994. The Ninth Circuit then granted a stay of the injunction while appeal is sought in the Supreme Court.
