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Posts Tagged ‘freelancer’’

NPPA sues California over controversial ‘freelancer’ bill that harms photojournalists

19 Dec

The National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) has announced its new lawsuit against California’s Assembly Bill 5 (AB5), which forces some independent contractors (freelancers) to become employees of their clients.

The AB5 bill was passed in September but won’t go into effect until next month. Though the law aims to prevent companies from exploiting workers by falsely declaring them as independent contractors, critics say it unfairly restricts people like freelance photojournalists who desire the freedom and copyright benefits associated with being an independent contractor.

In a statement published on Wednesday, the NPPA claims this law ‘discriminates against some visual journalists’ who wish to work as freelancers but are instead forced to become employees ‘whether they desire this working relationship or not.’

The NPPA argues that this legal requirement violates the U.S Constitution because, in part, only certain freelancers are covered by it; others, including graphic artists and marketing photographers, are allowed to retain their independent contractor status.

Photojournalists who also shoot video are forbidden from acting as freelancers under Assembly Bill 5, as well, which the NPPA alleges is ‘a content-based restriction on speech.’ Other issues introduced by AB5 include a limit of 35 assignments or submissions per year per client for still image photojournalists. The organization notes that many other types of freelancers also face similar restrictions, including freelance writers and freelance editors.

The NPPA lays out the negative impact this law will have on freelancers, stating:

NPPA members impacted by the law range from retirees who will be losing extra income to mid-career professionals whose journalism clients are part of their overall business model. All of the impacted members are experienced journalists, trained in ethics and professional standards, who keep their local community informed on matters of public concern. Their voices will be silenced when the impact of AB5 hits their businesses. Some NPPA members report that their income from certain clients is expected to drop by 60-75% next year due to AB5.

In addition to earning concerns, the organization also points out that by forcing photographers to work as employees, these photojournalists will lose the copyrights to the images they capture under their employment, whereas freelancers retain the copyrights unless they choose to surrender them to their clients.

Ultimately, the organization claims that it repeatedly attempted to get the bill modified so that it won’t negatively impact freelance photojournalists, but that California lawmakers have been ‘unsympathetic and unresponsive to our pleas.’ The lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles, California; the full legal complaint can be accessed on the NPPA’s website.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Photographer sues New York Times over age discrimination and ‘full-time freelancer’ status

21 Oct
Photo by Haxorjoe

The New York Times and its photography director Michele McNally have been hit with a lawsuit by former Times’ photographer Robert Stolarik. The lawsuit claims that Stolarik, age 48, was discriminated against due to his age, and was also misclassified as a ‘full-time freelancer’ for nearly a decade.

According to the complaint—which was filed on July 6th in New York and covered at that time by Bloomberg BNA—Stolarik began working for the Times as a photographer in Colombia in 2000, followed by additional work in Venezuela until 2002. Stolarik then resumed working for the Times in 2004, the legal document explains, ultimately resulting in nearly a decade of full-time work.

However, despite working full-time, the lawsuit claims that Stolarik was paid under a 1099-MISC form as a freelancer—a classification that deprived Stolarik of the benefits that would have come with full-time employment, including health insurance.

The complaint alleges that editors managed Stolarik in the same manner as employees, including giving specific start times for his assignments which regularly comprised 8-hour shifts. Stolarik claims that he was denied overtime pay for extended shifts and that he was not compensated for the time he was required to spend editing photos outside of his assignment hours.

The allegations continue from there, claiming that Stolarik ‘regularly sought’ a staff photographer position with the NYT, making his desires known both in writing and orally. Age discrimination allegedly prevented him from getting a full-time role with the company, though. The complaint states that “Stolarik was told on numerous occasions by various editors that he was too old” to get the staff position he sought.

One Times editor is accused of having asked Stolarik if he was under 30 years old, abandoning an effort to get him a staff position after learning that he was, at the time, 37. Another editor reportedly told Stolarik that he should be ‘concerned about’ his age in regards to his desire for a staff position, telling him on multiple occasions that he was too old to be an employee.

During his years spent freelancing for the Times, the lawsuit states that Stolarik’s requests for a staff role were ignored in favor of hiring photographers who were under the age of 30. The lawsuit also claims that the Times regularly gave assignments to its freelancers under the age of 30 versus its freelancers over the age of 30.

Furthermore, the lawsuit claims that the Times denied Stolarik assignments due to a wrongful arrest he suffered in the Bronx while on assignment for the company. Per the complaint, an NYPD officer had ordered Stolarik to stop taking photographs. The altercation resulted in Stolarik’s ‘violent arrest,’ which snowballed into the Times’ alleged decision to decrease the photographer’s assignments with the company.

Finally, the lawsuit also states that Stolarik’s lawyer sent a letter to the Times’ general counsel claiming that he had been discriminated against due to the arrest he suffered while on assignment, as well as his age. This complaint allegedly resulted in McNally ordering Times editors to stop giving Stolarik assignments altogether.

Among other things, the lawsuit seeks back pay, unpaid wages, overtime pay, and unpaid benefits in actual damages totaling at least $ 500,000, as well as compensatory damages, interest, costs and disbursements.

As Ramin Talaie points out on Medium, this lawsuit serves to highlight growing issues with the so-called ‘gig economy,’ which classifies workers as independent contractors despite work arrangements that may mirror that of employees. The classification gives companies a way to save money, but saddles the worker with self-employment tax while eliminating the protections and benefits that come from employee classification.

The full complaint can be read here.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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