The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is currently wrestling with the challenge of distinguishing between different roles within a franchise in the application of the state’s independent contractor law. The focus of their attention has been on 7-Eleven, with its franchisees arguing that they should be deemed employees rather than contractors.
These franchisees, individuals who themselves run 7-Eleven convenience stores, have been locked in a protracted legal dispute against the corporation, a dispute that has found its way through both state and federal courts. Their argument lies in the claim that, under Massachusetts’ ABC test – a legal definition used to classify workers – they are more rightly employees.
The heart of Monday’s oral argument rested on the question of whether these franchisees “perform any service” for 7-Eleven, a prerequisite for the application of the ABC test. Determining this not only has potential implications for franchisees’ legal protections but might also create a precedent for similar cases.
The challenge faced by the Supreme Court is in discerning a difference in the interpretation of the state independent contractor law that allows for managers involved in the everyday running of a franchise to be afforded different legal protections from those reserved for hands-off, multi-millionaire owners.
These attempts at interpretation underline the ongoing complexity of worker classification within franchises and, more widely, in today’s changing labor landscape. The outcome of this case may serve as an important touchpoint for future disputes of similar nature.