Addressing an issue of first impression, the Appellate Division, First Department court has reversed a dismissal and placed back before the trial court the question of whether a worker represented by an agent—in this case, a fashion model represented by a Manhattan agency—can qualify as a "freelance worker" under the state's novel "Freelance Isn't Free Act."

The Freelance Isn't Free Act's "text is silent as to how to factor an agent into the calculus of whether someone is a freelance worker," wrote Justice Peter Moulton in a signed, unanimous opinion joined by four justices.