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A California judge has approved a preliminary injunction against Uber and Lyft that will prevent them from classifying drivers as independent contractors. The injunction had been requested by the California attorney general as part of a lawsuit filed in May, alleging that the ride share companies were in violation of Assembly Bill 5 (AB5), a new California law that allows gig workers to be classified as employees. There are additional lawsuits pending against the ride share companies involving wage theft, according to the California labor commissioner. Uber and Lyft, amongst other tech companies, had opposed AB5, saying that their drivers enjoyed the freedom of arranging their own schedules. Earlier today, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi opined in a New York Times op-ed that there could be a third way to classify gig drivers, suggesting that gig companies create benefit funds that would allow workers to fund their health insurance and other benefits.