SAN FRANCISCO - The San Francisco and Los Angeles district attorneys brought federal civil charges against a handyman and housekeeping services company on behalf of the people of the state of California for allegedly violating the Unfair Competition Law and Assembly Bill 5.
According to documents filed on March 17 in the San Francisco County Superior Court, defendant Handy Technologies, Inc. employs thousands of housekeepers and handymen across the state. Customers use the defendant's app or website to request and hire the services needed.
San Francisco DA Chesa Boudin and Los Angeles DA George Gascón say that the handyman service has been illegally classifying its approximately 27,400 workers as independent contractors instead of employees.
The suit says that, by doing this illegal misclassification, Handy Technologies is denying its workers minimum labor protections, dodging tax obligations to the state for funding unemployment insurance, disability insurance and workers compensation, violating California workplace law and creating an unfair advantage over law-abiding competitors.
Handy Technologies is charged with violation of Unfair Competition Law and violation of Assembly Bill 5; the defendant is subject to up to $2,500 in civil penalties for each violation, with an additional $2,500 for violations relating to senior citizens and disabled persons, the suit says.