The American Society of Journalists and Authors, Inc. announced Tuesday that it’s suing the state of California on behalf of freelance journalists impacted by Assembly Bill 5 (AB-5), arguing it’s unconstitutional and harmful to the livelihoods of countless writers and photographers.
AB5, introduced by California assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, limits the ways employees can be classified as independent contractors and caps freelance journalists at 35 submissions per “putative employer” per year. The idea is that anyone working more frequently than that for a publication would have to be hired on as full-time or part-time staff (and thus have access to benefits and greater labor protections) — but as many freelancers have pointed out, that’s simply not feasible in today’s media landscape, and instead the law has resulted in media companies cutting ties with California-based writers and photographers.
One such company is Vox Media, which announced earlier in the week that it would cut 200 freelance positions from its sports outlet SB Nation, arguing that the law, which goes into effect Jan. 1, “makes it impossible for us to continue with our current California team site structure because it restricts contractors from producing more than 35 written content ‘submissions’ per year.”
“We have no choice but to go to court to protect the rights of independent writers and freelance journalists as a whole,” American Society of Journalists and Authors president Milton C. Toby said in a statement about the lawsuit. “The stakes are too high, and we cannot stand by as our members and our colleagues face ill-conceived and potentially career-ending legislation.”
Freelance journalists argue they’re being unfairly targeted by the law while other independent contractors have been granted exemptions. (The law’s professional services exemption, for example, applies to marketing professionals as long as their contracted work is “original and creative.”) “Under the law, a freelancer like me can write 200-plus press releases in a year for a marketing firm, and it’s no problem,” San Diego-based freelance writer Randy Dotinga said in a statement. “But if a newspaper wants me to write a weekly column about local politics, it must put me on staff — a very unlikely prospect — or violate the law. Otherwise I am silenced.”
Another freelance journalists’ group called California Freelance Writers United reportedly met over the weekend to solidify its plans to contest the law. “California Freelance Writers United applauds ASJA and NPPA’s move to sue the state of California in defense of independent writers and freelance journalists’ constitutional rights,” the group’s founder Maressa Brown said in a statement. “The language of the complaint makes clear that this misguided, woefully ill-informed legislation threatens the livelihoods of proud independent contractors and is an assault on our rights to free speech, the press, and equal protection.”
The ASJA is working with pro bono attorneys at the Pacific Legal Foundation on the suit.
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