Overview
- A federal district court applied both the FLSA economic‑reality test and New Jersey’s three‑pronged ABC test and reached different results for the same group of Streamate performers.
- The court found the performers meet the FLSA test for independent contractors because they set schedules and prices, bought their own equipment, and could work on competing platforms.
- The court held the operator failed Prong B of New Jersey’s ABC test by showing performers did not work outside the company’s places of business, explaining that a proprietary online platform can count as a place of business.
- Plaintiffs allege misclassification, retention of online tips and below‑minimum wages, and the court’s employee finding under state law revives wage‑and‑hour claims that federal classification would have foreclosed.
- The ruling arrives as New Jersey has finalized regulations clarifying the ABC test and is likely to push platform companies to review contracts, payroll practices, and litigation strategies in the state.