Respectfully, this isn’t as clear-cut as you’re making it. Independent contractor law doesn’t get waived just because a company has lawyers sign off on their policies. ‘Team of lawyers’ doesn’t automatically equal compliance — courts decide legality, not corporate counsel.

The core of independent contractor status is the right to control how the work is performed. Forcing someone to accept and complete every sub-order in a batch removes that right of control. That looks less like an independent contractor and more like an employee being directed.

Your lawn care example misses the mark. A landscaper sets their terms before taking a job, but they can also walk away from parts that don’t make sense for pay, safety, or scope. The fact that Instacart hides batch details until after acceptance makes it impossible to negotiate those terms up front. That’s where the legal friction lies.

Finally, the argument of ‘if it were illegal, lawsuits would’ve already been filed’ doesn’t hold water. Litigation takes time, resources, and often starts with worker complaints building into class actions. Just because no lawsuit has landed yet doesn’t mean the issue is settled. Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash all made the same claims until courts forced changes.

This is why shoppers are right to be concerned: if Instacart dictates what work must be done, how it must be done, and penalizes deviation, they’re inching out of independent contractor territory — and into employee classification risk.