"A Legal Victory For Strippers Is Bad News For Silicon Valley's '1099 Economy"

avatar for steve229
steve229
Did strippers just kill the economic boom?

"This week, a judge in New York awarded $10.8 million in damages to New York women who filed a lawsuit against the strip club they worked for, Rick's Cabaret in Midtown Manhattan, alleging that they were improperly classified as independent contractors when they were, in fact, employees.

This is bad for Silicon Valley, which relies on the "1099 economy" (named after the tax form for independent contractors).

...the 1099 economy is almost perfectly calibrated to serve the needs of fast-moving start-ups — lower costs, less liability, the ability to grow and shrink the labor pool quickly ..."

In other words, many of Silicon Valley's most novel business models rely on being able to have cheap, nimble workforces by using contract workers. It's going to be a problem for these businesses if the courts start ruling that these models are illegal

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-freel…







31 comments

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avatar for Dougster
Dougster
10 years ago
I think Stevie-girl has finally managed to quote a reporter even dumber than him!

What do you think, Stevie-girl? Short companies with high numbers of contractors on staff because of this?
No wunder the NASDAQ was down yesterday and the futures continued down overnight.

This is one of the best articles on our pending DOOM to date!

I bet politicians will also decide to gut the H1B program while they are at it.
avatar for Dougster
Dougster
10 years ago
A bigger threat even than ObamaCare! Absolute and certain DOOM! I bet that $6.3 million lowe's had to absolutely collapsed their stock! Oh no. Up 6% yesterday and 20% this year. I guess the market just doesn't know WTF it is doing.
avatar for steve229
steve229
10 years ago
This is also putting a crip in my plans for my Uber like service for PLs
avatar for Dougster
Dougster
10 years ago
Geez, I guess the fact that contractors get paid more than full time because they have to cover expenses on their own wasn't worth mentioning in the article.

That's some first rate journalism you are quoting. As always, stevie-girl!
avatar for Dougster
Dougster
10 years ago
"Back in May, the home improvement store Lowe's settled a class-action suit in California for $6.5 million over its alleged misclassification of 4,000 employees

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-freel…"


$1600/employee. Holy fuckin' shit! DOOMED!
avatar for Dougster
Dougster
10 years ago
Lol!
avatar for jackslash
jackslash
10 years ago
Like strip clubs, start ups need to follow the wage and hour laws. It is illegal to classify an employee as a contractor just to save money.
avatar for Dougster
Dougster
10 years ago
DOOMED!
avatar for JamesSD
JamesSD
10 years ago
In many cases silicon valley contractors are more "true" contractors. They are hired for specific contracts for a specific length of time.
avatar for crazyjoe
crazyjoe
10 years ago
WE ARE FUCKED
avatar for crazyjoe
crazyjoe
10 years ago
DOOM!!! SIPPYCUP SHIT HIS PANTS AGAIN
avatar for crazyjoe
crazyjoe
10 years ago
WE ARE FUCKED
avatar for Dougster
Dougster
10 years ago
Even if there were a grain of merit I'm sure everyone who just stand idly by if this was a serious threat to the economy right? Right? Stevie-girl?
avatar for SlickSpic
SlickSpic
10 years ago
@Steve-Don't you mean "Crimp"? I don't think that your Uber service being staffed by Crips is gonna end up a wise business decision.
avatar for steve229
steve229
10 years ago
Good point, Slick. On the other hand, if they had to pick up some PL at 2 am they'd be ready to shoot their way out of the club if need be
avatar for steve229
steve229
10 years ago
2 am would definitely be surge pricing
avatar for Dougster
Dougster
10 years ago
Absolutely DOOMED!
avatar for san_jose_guy
san_jose_guy
10 years ago
Yes, I don't think the relation between this and Silicon Valley is that strong.

1. The issue of whether or not strippers are properly classified as independent contractors has come up before. There was a suit 15 years ago pertaining to the San Francisco clubs.

2. California law is very aggressive, that is the burden of proof is placed on the employer. If they employer cannot prove it, then the contractor will be retroactively classified as an employee, and the employer will have to pay their contribution to Social Security withholding. Some of the things the court and the Labor Dept will look at is how many shops the contractor works for, what supplies and equipment of their own they have to buy, and how much discretion they have in how they do their work.

3. As far as start up companies, I think this is where the real error is in that article. I have no love at all for the venture capitalists. Their approach to building business is horrible.

This deals with people I have worked with:
http://www.amazon.com/Money-No-Object-Ve…

But one thing the VC's don't do is play games with the law. They are concerned about their reputations. When one of their firms goes under, as they usually do, they merge it with something else or sell it. So there is never any default on wages or debts. And these VC's don't set up firms which misuse contractor status. It is rarely used.

The kinds of start ups this article is talking about are really flakey operations, basically bull shit from the start.

SJG
avatar for Dougster
Dougster
10 years ago
DOOMED! Because stevie-girl said so.
avatar for Dougster
Dougster
10 years ago
Now don't you go bringing facts into this, SJG. stevie-girl only cares about quoting a cute sounding headline. I would true or false doesn't matter to him, but lately, it looks like he loves to quote ones even he must know are false. Just to be a homo, I suppose.
avatar for Dougster
Dougster
10 years ago
Lol!
avatar for Dougster
Dougster
10 years ago
Stevie-girl always careful to only quote the finest journalism out there.
avatar for Dougster
Dougster
10 years ago
How come the markets didn't selloff Friday on this? Stevie-girl sees that it is clearly very significant. How come the markets don't?
avatar for Dougster
Dougster
10 years ago
Is the GLOBAL MARKET ROUT on this headline over yet?
avatar for Dougster
Dougster
10 years ago
Lol!
avatar for Dougster
Dougster
10 years ago
Absolutely DOOMED! Because Stevie-girl said so.
avatar for Dougster
Dougster
10 years ago
Lol!
avatar for ilbbaicnl
ilbbaicnl
10 years ago
I'm not really sure if complicated US labor laws make sense or not. But adult entertainment is important to me, sometimes it's the only thing that will chase away the blues after a shitty week. When you rely on people to do a certain job, it's stupid to let them get shit on so they quit. For that reason, I'm all for strippers getting their full rights under the law, just like everyone else. The safe harbor in the law for calling someone a contractor includes not setting their work hours. Most clubs do try to set dancer work hours, so they should know damn well they are on shaky ground trying to call them contractors.
avatar for Dougster
Dougster
10 years ago
I haven't looked. How have silicon valley companies done since Stevie-girl posted this? Down 50-100% I bet!
avatar for Dougster
Dougster
10 years ago
So many threats facing the global economy. How will we ever get through?
avatar for Dougster
Dougster
10 years ago
Silicon Vallry is toast. Because Stevie-girl said so!
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