This study examines whether companies in the gig economy altered their contract terms following two landmark Supreme Court decisions affirming the enforceability of class action waivers in arbitration agreements: AT&T Mobility, LLC v. Concepcion and American Express v. Italian Colors Restaurant. Many of the companies in the study appear to have been influenced by the decisions.
The study analyzes Terms of Service contracts from 38 gig companies between 2009 and 2016. Prior to 2012, only about one third of companies used arbitration agreements, and few such agreements contained a class action waiver. By 2016, however, nearly two thirds of gig companies included an arbitration agreement, and almost all included a class action waiver. These class action waivers remove the future threat of aggregate liability for claims brought by workers and consumers alike. The addition of such waivers could also explain in part why gig companies have not reclassified their workers, even after experiencing substantial litigation.
