News Releases
March 17, 2021: District Attorney Gascón Announces Worker Protection Lawsuit Against Handy for Misclassifying Its Workers
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Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced today the filing of a worker protection lawsuit against Handy Technologies, Inc., suing the company for allegedly unlawfully misclassifying its workers as independent contractors when they are employees performing all of the cleaning and handyperson services sold to customers.
“Workers can often feel powerless when dealing with large employers engaged in the practice of misclassifying the people who work for them, a process that cheats employees out of benefits, healthcare and workplace safety protections,” Gascón said. “By failing to provide healthcare, particularly during a pandemic, these companies not only have an advantage over companies that follow the law, but also are passing their health care costs on to all of us as taxpayers.”
Misclassifying workers as independent contractors rather than employees leaves them without critical workplace protections such as the right to minimum wage, access to paid sick leave, family leave, reimbursement for business expenses, disability and unemployment insurance.
The lawsuit was filed in San Francisco Superior Court by Gascón and Chesa Boudin, District Attorney for the City and County of San Francisco, who took action to protect the general public in California from unlawful and unfair business practices.
Handy is a company that sells household services, including prearranged home cleaning and handyperson labor. Headquartered in New York City, Handy employs approximately 17,500 workers in California.
Under California’s protective labor laws, workers are presumed to be employees and employers must justify classifying workers as independent contractors. Along with the other disadvantages, misclassified workers are not protected by most anti-discrimination laws, do not have as much protection from sexual harassment/assault or as many legal rights to unionize and bargain collectively.
The civil suit seeks restitution for Handy workers statewide, a permanent halt to the ongoing illegal misclassification and civil penalties.
