Michael Hiltzik: Uber and Lyft try to blunt a court ruling that their drivers are employees

It was clear almost from the first that the California Supreme Court, in a ruling in April 2018, threw the business models of Uber and Lyft companies for a loop.

The thrust of the ruling was that drivers for those companies had been improperly classified as "independent contractors" when in fact they're employees, entitled to most of the benefits and legal protections employees receive.

Things only looked worse for the companies when the Legislature started considering a bill to enshrine the court ruling into law.

So the companies are trying to blunt the court decision and water down the bill. They argue that treating their drivers as employees will be bad for the drivers - and, sure, for themselves too.

It's a bad argument, rationalized by some flagrantly misleading claims. You'll be hearing these claims quite a bit in coming weeks as the measure, AB 5, makes it way through the state Senate. (It was passed by the Assembly on May 29 and the Senate Labor Committee on Wednesday.) Don't be snowed.

The question underlying the