Once-Pivotal Grubhub Case Back On The Court Docket – But Has The Gig Economy Moved On?

A federal appeals court just resurrected a pivotal gig economy battle that at one time seemed to be the center of the legal universe – but for a variety of reasons seems much less important these days. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a brief administrative order on January 28 that took the landmark Lawson v. Grubhub case out of suspended animation and placed it back on its active docket, ready to be argued and eventually decided. But thanks to a recent California Supreme Court decision and a critical ballot measure outcome, the outcome seems fairly predictable while the overall stakes seem much lower. What do gig economy employers need to know about this recent activity?