Valnet Misclassified Content Creators as Independent Contractors, Class Action Claims

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A proposed class action out of California alleges Valnet has unlawfully denied content creators proper wages by misclassifying them as independent contractors.

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The 17-page employee misclassification lawsuit says Valnet—a digital media publishing company that owns popular brands like MovieWeb, Screen Rant, HotCars, TheRichest and Comic Book Resources—hires content creators to make and edit the content on its websites and YouTube channels.

The case argues, however, that these workers have been wrongfully classified as independent contractors given that Valnet exercises “substantial control” over how they accomplish their work. For example, the case points out that the content creators are told “how to craft headlines, order content and upload pictures so as to attract the most viewers to each content post,” and they are required to assign all the rights to their content and intellectual property to Valnet.

Ultimately, the company’s content creators “do not create and edit content for their own independent businesses, but create content solely for Valnet property websites and digital channels,” the filing contends.

According to the complaint, Valnet’s alleged misclassification of content creators is an attempt by the company to avoid paying workers minimum and overtime wages, in violation of California law.

The filing explains that Valnet pays content creators on a piece-rate, or per-article, basis. The plaintiff, a California resident who wrote for MovieWeb between November 2022 and April 2023, claims that throughout the five-day workweek, he regularly produced three to four articles per day, each of which would take about two to three hours to complete. However, the plaintiff was paid only $15 per article, the suit says.

“Given the number of hours content creators work for Valnet, the piece-rate payment is frequently, if not always, under the minimum wage required by California law,” the complaint says.

The lawsuit goes on to claim that although content creators are sometimes given tasks that require them to work overtime, Valnet illegally fails to pay the individuals time-and-a-half wages for every hour worked over 40 each week. 

In addition, the complaint accuses the defendants of failing to provide these workers with a 10-minute rest period for every four hours worked, a 30-minute meal break within the first five hours of work per day, or a second half-hour meal break after 10 hours of work per day.

The complaint further alleges the company has violated state law by failing to provide content creators compensation in lieu of meal and rest breaks, accurate wage statements and reimbursement for business expenses, including the use of their personal computers, smartphones and internet access for work-related tasks.

 The lawsuit looks to cover any content creators in California who, within the last four years, created and/or edited written, video or audio content for any Valnet property and were classified by the company as independent contractors.

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