Rabanal v. Rideshare Port Management
At issue in these two consolidated actions is whether plaintiffs Jose Diaz and Ferdinand Rabanal (collectively plaintiffs) are employees of, or independent contractors for, defendant Rideshare Port Management LLC d/b/a Prime Time Shuttle (RPM), and managing member Rattan Joea and his wife, Parminder Joea (collectively defendants). Plaintiffs sued defendants seeking to recover for various alleged violations of the wage and hour laws. The trial court granted defendants’ motions for summary judgment, ruling as a matter of law that plaintiffs were not employees who would be entitled to the protection of the wage and hour laws but independent contractors. Plaintiffs appeal. We hold there is no triable issue of material fact and so, as a matter of law, plaintiffs are independent contractors. Plaintiffs exercised control over the manner and means of the work. Although RPM set some standards of dress, implemented to an extent a demerit system, and utilized a centralized dispatch system, many aspects of the dress code and dispatch system were required by the City of Los Angeles (the City) and the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) in order for RPM to operate at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and the evidence fails to show that the demerit system went beyond the right to ensure satisfactory performance to the public. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment.
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