California’s terrible AB5 came for me today, and I’m devastated
As with many of my colleagues today, because I live in California, I was just told that I can no longer hold a paid position with SB Nation. This means that I will be forced to step down as Editor-in-Chief of Mavs Moneyball as of March 31.
For those who don’t know, California’s legislature recently passed a law, Assembly Bill 5, codifying a California Supreme Court decision that classifies many independent contractors as full-time employees. While there is a small carve-out in the statute that allows for paid writers or editors to continue to produce a very limited amount of content per company, it’s not nearly enough, and it would be hard for me or most of my colleagues to fit in that small box.
So, SB Nation has chosen to do the easiest thing they can to comply with California law -- not work with California-based independent contractors, or any contractors elsewhere writing for California-based teams. I don’t blame them at all.
Like many of my SB Nation Team Brands colleagues, I have a fulfilling full-time day job that pays my bills. I don’t want to be a full-time journalist for a living, though I have the utmost respect for those who work that grind every single day. In fact, those people are a model for our site and inspire me to do the quality work Mavs Moneyball does every day.
This is a passion project for me. Personally, while the extra income helps my family, it doesn’t break us to lose it. But I have literally HUNDREDS of amazing colleagues all across our network who DO rely on this money to help, and who are going to have to replace that income somewhere else, somehow. That sucks. So much. I am heartbroken that the state I love so much has forced a company I love working for to cut formal ties with people who are doing amazing work -- and who are able to help themselves and their families with the extra income that a passion project or side hustle can sometimes provide.
I’ll be working with SB Nation to transition the site to a new Editor-in-Chief over the next couple months, and will let you guys know when we know what that plan is. And I will continue to be a part of the site in some way as an unpaid contributor, because I love the work and the NBA blogging community and this team and our staff. I’ll also continue to fight the good fight for the freelance writers who do need real change in this law to sustain their chosen livelihoods.
It’s the best year in a long time to be a Mavericks fan. There’s real excitement around the Mavericks in the broader NBA community for the first time in years, and I feel privileged to have led Mavs Moneyball into the Luka Doncic era. Love you guys so much.
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