Dive Brief:

• Last week Yelp got a favorable court opinion holding that its reviewers aren’t employees, reports Forbes.
• Yelp reviewers had filed a lawsuit in 2013 claiming that Yelp took advantage of them, and that their reviews on Yelp in essence qualified them as employees.
• The court in the cases ruled that that the plaintiffs’ Fair Labor Standards Act claims failed to meet the standard. Also, the court ruled the lawsuit was a “SLAPP,” an acronym for “Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation.”

Dive Insight:

Although the lawsuit focused on Yelp, author Eric Goldman writes that the arguments made by the Yelp reviewers easily extend to every website (including social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter) that rely on users to contribute valuable content and services that comprise the website’s core assets. Thus, the employment issue pervades the entire user-generated content industry, he says.

While the court’s result is sensible, Goldman writes, employment law doesn’t really have a safe harbor for “volunteers.” Typically, services provided to for-profit companies must fit into one of two categories: “employee” or “independent contractor.” If the court successfully establishes a new third category of “volunteer,” that would be major news in employment law.

For now, HR leaders at user-generated content companies such as Facebook, Trip Advistor, etc., can rest easy.