On Thursday, a California judge denied Uber and Lyft requests for more time to appeal his decision ordering them to classify drivers as employees beyond the August 20 deadline.It followed a preliminary injunction request by San Francisco’s District Attorney Chesa Boudin “seeking an immediate end to DoorDash’s illegal behavior of failing to provide delivery workers with basic workplace protections.” The food-delivery company said the move was ill-timed: “In the midst of one of the deepest economic recessions in our nation’s history, today’s action … threatens billions of dollars in earnings for California Dashers and revenue for restaurants that rely upon sales from delivery to keep their businesses open.” (BNN Bloomberg, San Francisco Chronicle)

Talking point: Gig-economy companies are facing mounting pressure from California courts to shift to employing workers full time. Both Uber and Lyft have said that if a higher court doesn’t overturn or further pause the ruling, they’ll suspend their services in the state until the November election, when voters could potentially exempt them by passing a ballot measure to classify gig-economy workers, like delivery drivers, as contractors. Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart and Postmates have spent more than US$110 million to support the measure in California. The companies face similar actions in Canada, where in June the Supreme Court ruled a $400-million proposed class-action suit on behalf of drivers can proceed.