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Franchisee Class Cleans Up in Federal Court

By Saranac Hale Spencer
April 02, 2015

Nearly 250 people who run franchises for the cleaning company Jani-King last month got certification to bring a class action suit against the company for misclassifying them as independent contractors in Pennsylvania.

According to the two plaintiffs who brought the suit on behalf of area Jani-King franchisees, they are really just employees of the Texas-based company.

“Plaintiffs contend that under Pennsylvania law, specifically the WPCL, plaintiffs, and the proposed class members, should have been treated as employees of Jani-King ' not independent contractors ' because Jani-King's universal policies and procedures were so controlling that they created an employment relationship,” said U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, referring to the state's Wage Payment and Collection Law. The case is in federal court on diversity jurisdiction.

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