Popular sports website blames California labor law as it cuts ties with freelancers
A popular sports website is severing ties with California-based freelance writers, and blaming a new state law taking effect Jan. 1 that dictates which kinds of workers must receive full employment benefits.
California-based writers and editors from SB Nation, a hub of sports blogs with team-by-team websites owned by Vox, announced on Monday that their company is ending their contracts because of the new California law.
“As with many of my colleagues today, because I live in California, I was just told that I can no longer hold a paid position with SB Nation. This means that I will be forced to step down as editor in chief of Mavs Moneyball as of March 31,” wrote Rebecca Lawson, in a post published Monday morning.
In a separate post, SB Nation Director of Team Brands John Ness said 200 California contractors “wrote thousands” of pieces for the network in 2019.
Under Assembly Bill 5, freelancers who complete 35 or more assignments for an employer in a calendar year are considered full-time employees who sould be compensated with full benefits.
Lawson wrote in her post that SB Nation has opted to comply with California law by simply not hiring any writers based in California.
“I don’t blame them at all,” Lawson wrote.
On Twitter, contributors to SacTown Royalty, an SB Nation website for Sacramento Kings fans, shared similar stories.
“Devastated. I’m eternally proud to be proud of the SacTown Royalty team, but this is absolutely devastating,” wrote SacTown Royalty contributor Bryant West on Twitter.
Another post at SB Nation website for Golden State Warriors fans, Golden State of Mind, asked, “Did Vox just fire the entire Golden State of Mind staff via Twitter?”
Lawson wrote that she has hundreds of colleagues who are affected by the cut “and who are going to have to replace that income somewhere else, somehow.”
Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, responded to Lawson’s post on her personal Twitter account Monday.
“First, this states the company had been contemplating the switch for 2 years. Second, it clearly states that those contracted jobs are being converted to full & part time jobs. I understand a contractor who doesn’t want a job being upset, but that’s certainly not all bad,” Gonzalez wrote.
This story was originally published December 16, 2019 at 11:47 AM with the headline "Popular sports website blames California labor law as it cuts ties with freelancers."
