Two California district attorneys are teaming up to sue a home cleaning and repair gig company for allegedly misclassifying tens of thousands of workers as independent contractors.

The district attorneys of San Francisco and Los Angeles on Wednesday sued the New York-based company Handy, which operates an online application that allows customers to schedule home-cleaning and repair services.

Handy, a company started by Harvard Business School classmates Oisin Hanrahan and Umang Dua in 2012, has scheduled home-cleaning and repair gigs for tens of thousands of workers in California, according to the San Francisco DA’s office.

The lawsuit filed in San Francisco Superior Court accuses Handy of failing to pay minimum wage and overtime wages or reimburse job-related expenses such as cleaning supplies. It also claims the company denied workers sick leave and did not pay unemployment insurance or payroll taxes.

It further accuses the company of illegally imposing fines on workers and deducting pay from their wages. Additionally, it claims the company did not cover quarterly healthcare expenditures for workers in San Francisco as required by a city ordinance.

In an emailed statement, a Handy spokesperson said the lawsuit “has no merit” and is based on a “fundamental misunderstanding” of California law and the rights of Handy and its workers, which it calls “pros.”

“Handy complies with all laws and regulations in California and elsewhere, and we will vigorously defend ourselves in court,” the spokesperson said.

Assistant San Francisco DA Scott Stillman, who runs the office’s Economic Crimes Unit, said Handy cannot satisfy the three requirements necessary to classify workers as independent contractors under state law.

The California Supreme Court established a three-pronged standard, known as the “ABC test,” for determining a worker’s employment status in its 2018 ruling in Dynamex v. Superior Court. That standard was later written into state law with the passage of Assembly Bill 5 in 2019.

Stillman said Handy directly controls workers by monitoring them through an app for several hours before and after their scheduled shifts. The company allegedly fines workers if they show up to assignments late or leave early. Stillman argued that Handy’s gig workers also support the company’s core business function – providing home-cleaning and repair services.

Handy also requires its workers to sign arbitration agreements waiving their right to sue the company in court. Labor disputes, including ones involving employment status, must be resolved through a private arbitration process instead.

The district attorneys seek a court order requiring Handy to classify workers as employees, pay civil penalties and provide restitution to workers for unpaid wages and job expense reimbursement.

Last year, voters approved a ballot measure backed by Uber and Lyft that exempted app-based transportation and delivery workers from California’s labor law, allowing those companies to continue classifying their workers as independent contractors.