Rappi—Buenos Aires provincial Supreme Court ruled Rappi delivery workers are employees, upheld fine for misclassification
In case L.128.287 (sentence registry RS-36-2026), the Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Provincia de Buenos Aires ruled unanimously on April 9, 2026 to reject extraordinary appeals filed by Rappi Argentina S.A.S. (and, in a companion ruling, PedidosYa), confirming that the companies' delivery riders are employees in a dependent employment relationship under Article 21 of Argentina's Labor Contract Law (Ley 20.744), not independent contractors. The ruling upheld a fine of approximately ARS 16.4 million (commonly reported as ~ARS 20 million) originally imposed by the Buenos Aires Provincial Ministry of Labor following 2020-2021 inspections that found Rappi had not registered its riders as employees, in violation of Articles 52, 128 and 140 of the labor law. The decision is final and unappealable, giving Rappi's labor-classification practices their most significant legal defeat in Latin America to date, and stands in tension with Rappi's ongoing appeal to Brazil's Supreme Court seeking the opposite classification.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gig Worker Rights | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.443 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (high ×1.5) × confidence (0.59)× agency (negligent ×0.5)
Evidence (1 signal)
Official Buenos Aires provincial Supreme Court ruling (causa L.128.287) rejecting Rappi's appeal on rider classification
The Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Provincia de Buenos Aires published its sentencia in causa L.128.287, unanimously rejecting Rappi Argentina S.A.S.'s extraordinary appeal and confirming that its delivery riders are dependent employees, upholding the labor ministry's misclassification fine. Bloomberg Linea's coverage corroborates the ruling, fine amount, and its precedential significance for gig-economy labor classification in Argentina.