Massachusetts top court blocks gig worker ballot question from going forward By Reuters

By Nate Raymond

BOSTON (Reuters) – Massachusetts’ top court on Tuesday barred a ballot measure from moving forward that would ask voters whether drivers for app-based companies like Uber Technologies (NYSE:) Inc and Lyft Inc (NASDAQ:) should be treated as independent contractors and not employees.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that ballot questions that a coalition of app-based service providers hoped to put before voters in November went too far by including an unrelated proposal that would limit their liability for accidents by their drivers.