Vox fires 200 freelancers because of new California law, and now the state faces a lawsuit

Several new California laws go into effect in 2020. One of those laws is Assembly Bill 5, which is aimed at protecting gig economy workers by reclassifying them as employees.

But AB5 is having some negative consequences for the people it purportedly wants to help. This week, Vox Media laid off about 200 of its California freelance journalists. Vox partly blamed the new law.

Now two organizations representing freelance journalists are suing California, saying the new law is unconstitutional because it restricts free speech. We speak with San Diego Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, who wrote AB5.