In a lawsuit filed Jan. 27, the former executive editor, lamag.com of Los Angeles Magazine accused the publication of multiple violations of California labor law including failure to pay wages and overtime, misclassification as a contractor, and failure to itemize wage statements.
Joseph Kapsch, who is now a contributor editor at TheWrap, worked for LA Magazine as executive editor, lamag.com from October 2021 through June of 2022. He says he was wrongly classified as a contractor, asserting that LA Magazine violated the so-called “ABC” test in doing so.
The “ABC Test” establishes three criteria which must be met in order for an employee to be considered a contractor rather than a full employee: “The person is independent of the hiring organization in connection with the performance of the work, both under the contract for the performance of the work and in fact”; “The person performs work that is outside the hiring entity’s business.”; and “The person is routinely doing work in an independently established trade, occupation, or business that is the same as the work being requested and performed.”
In his filing, Kapsch asserts that he met none of those conditions, saying that LA Magazine asserted “extensive and pervasive control over Plaintiffs conduct, means and manner of work, actions, wages, and hours,” that his duties as Executive Editor were “necessary” for the function and publication of the magazine, and that he wasn’t engaged in independently established work for them.
As such, the suit says, Kapsch was legally a non-exempt employee, and that he was illegally deprived of overtime pay and clearly itemized wages. In addition, Kapsch asserts that he didn’t receive all money owed to him when his employment with LA Magazine ended, a violation of California law that says all such wages must be provided immediately, or the employer must pay an additional 30 days wages as a penalty.
Kapsch is seeking to be determined compensatory damages, statutory penalties and the covering of legal fees for the lost wages and overtime; actual damages, legal fees, statutory penalties and legally mandated penalties for the misclassification; and legal fees, compensatory damages and statutory damages for the failure to itemize his wages.
Representatives for Los Angeles Magazine didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from TheWrap.
