Making Hard Choices and Staying True to Our Mission

The population of people who utilize the flexible contractor opportunities that Arise’s platform provides has grown to include entrepreneurs of all walks of life, including many groups that have been historically underserved by the traditional employment model. This has provided newfound financial opportunities to flexible contractors, who include caretakers, military spouses, college students, retirees, and many others.

Over the years, Arise has helped numerous entrepreneurs find advancement in an environment that lets them choose their own schedules and their own opportunities – where they work and who they work with – all while serving as independent contractors for world-class companies.
This has happened many thousands of times.

Arise’s business model is one that generates value for all stakeholders, that promotes independence and flexibility and that powers the U.S. economy and helps major companies conduct business. We have been able to tap into a previously underutilized market and connect it to Fortune 500 companies who seek high-quality customer service experience. This has had a positive impact on some of our country’s most relevant customer-facing companies.

We’re proud of our record and proud that we’ve been able to help the U.S. economy, American companies, and the American people. We’re motivated by our mission, and we defend this business and the opportunities we help provide at every turn – even if that sometimes means making hard choices.

We made one such hard choice this week when we decided to enter into a settlement agreement with the office of the Attorney General of the District of Columbia to resolve a lawsuit it filed against Arise in early 2022. We vehemently disagree with the allegations made by the office of the Attorney General – we think they were wrong on both the facts and the law. However, we chose to settle this matter so we can continue to advance our business outside of the District of Columbia.

It was disappointing to see that in the lawsuit, and the subsequent press release announcing the settlement, the Attorney General’s office continued to rely on inaccurate portrayals and insinuations. Their views on the Arise business model seemed to be based on an outdated view of the independent contractor principle generally, and a lack of understanding of our model specifically.

Of course, this settlement agreement was not a finding or admission of wrongdoing by Arise, and the Court did not make any determination regarding the status of Agents – key points omitted by the Attorney General’s office in their press release. For us, this was a business decision – a difficult one – that allowed us to move our business forward. But beyond that, the principal effect this settlement agreement had was to strip business owners in the District of Columbia of the economic opportunities that the Arise® Platform provides. Hard to see who wins here but easy to see who loses.

Sometimes, those are the choices that need to be made to defend our broader goal. At Arise, we remain fully committed to our mission of providing a platform that delivers both world-class results and unmatched flexibility. And we will continue to defend and advocate for ourselves.
Moving forward, you can expect Arise to remain steadfast in safeguarding our brand and countering any false narratives, both through this medium and other channels. Our commitment is to consistently amplify the message about the exceptional work we’re doing, ensuring it reaches the right audience and reflects our true efforts and achievements.