214: Let's go straight to Huanglong!

Zhou Yun now knew it was a setup, but it was still quite difficult to clarify the legal relationships involved.

First and foremost, the biggest question was: what exactly was the relationship between these companies?

This was a very important point, after all, people attended meetings at a station under Langxin Service Company, then took orders and worked on an app developed by a company called Pengtian Internet Technology Co., Ltd. in the Magic City, and their remuneration was also viewed there.

Then, the company that paid was a company called Goufei Enterprise Management Co., Ltd.... So, what kind of situation was this?

According to Zhou Yun’s Law, when handling a case, one must first sort out the entire case’s legal logical relationships; otherwise, if you sue all three companies one by one, you might very likely conclude that none of the three companies had an employment relationship with you.

Don't disbelieve it; suing all of them could very well lead to this situation, because no matter who you sue, they would have a reason.

Therefore, one must absolutely not be led by the nose by the other party; one must find ways to seize the initiative in the case!

But how to seize the initiative? With so many threads, it was hard to know where to start. At this point, one could first determine one thing: which company was actually contracting the food delivery services in this area?

This was the key of keys. Currently, there were many food delivery companies on the market. Besides the well-known giants, some regional food delivery companies had always survived.

And here, from inquiries within the app Duan Liwei used to work with, it could be known that behind it were two companies: one was Pengtian Internet Technology Co., Ltd. in the Magic City.

The other was Capital Hongquan Company, a well-known food delivery company in this era.

So, what Zhou Yun had to do was apply the second rule of Zhou’s Law: find the father!

Don’t bother with these three companies; instead, bypass them and directly go for the possible father, Capital Hongquan Company!

The first and most basic sentence in the Red Book of the instructor is: who are our friends, and who are our enemies?

This sentence will never go out of style; we just need to learn to analyze it dialectically, as contradictions are constantly developing.

In a certain stage, the other party might be our “enemy,” but in another stage or another aspect, the other party might be our friend.

Once we identify who our “enemy” is in this stage, it becomes easy: we must support whatever the enemy opposes.

Why does Hongquan Company engage in these partnership outsourcing arrangements? The purpose is to reduce costs and avoid potential legal risks. So, what would happen if we now directly strike at the heart of the matter?

Of course, this is a small case after all, and it’s nothing to such a company, but there’s a problem: no matter how small the case, the other party still has to appear in Court!

What Zhou Yun wanted was not for the other party to appear in Court, because he definitely wouldn’t win. They had spent so much effort building their moat; did he think he could break through it so easily? That was impossible.

Zhou Yun’s goal was to clarify which company was contracting the food delivery business in Anping City through investigation orders and other means during the litigation process!

It’s hard to grasp a thousand threads, but as long as you can find the head, grab it, and shake it, the relationships might become clear.

And most importantly, for Hongquan Company, this was purely an undeserved disaster. If the subordinate partners couldn’t handle the problem and ended up being sued here, would this ‘father’ be very angry?

Perhaps they could directly mediate during this process and obtain the contract signed by the other party!

With the logic in place, it was time to get to work. Although he had to initiate labor arbitration against Capital Hongquan Company to confirm the employment relationship, it didn't mean Zhou Yun had to go to the Emperor Capital.

If the employer and employee are not in the same area, how is jurisdiction determined? The answer is to initiate arbitration at the place where the contract is performed.

The legal basis is Article 21 of the “Labor Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Law.”

This article stipulates: Labor disputes shall be under the jurisdiction of the Labor Dispute Arbitration Committee at the place where the labor contract is performed or at the location of the employer.

If both parties separately apply for arbitration to the Labor Dispute Arbitration Committee at the place where the labor contract is performed and at the location of the employer, the Labor Dispute Arbitration Committee at the place where the labor contract is performed shall have jurisdiction.

See? If there’s a conflict between the two sides, the Labor Arbitration Committee at the place where the labor contract is performed will have jurisdiction.

So, that simplifies things. If, hypothetically, a food delivery rider had an employment contract, where would the place of contract performance be? Of course, it would be where he usually delivers food.

In this case, that would be in Changhua District, Anping City.

The Changhua District Labor Arbitration Committee was that local, somewhat irregular Arbitration Committee. Perfect, this time he would go and open their eyes again.

Let’s see if they will accept this arbitration. If they don’t, that’s even better; he can just sue directly in Court.

If the Changhua District Court refuses to accept the case, then he would go up level by level. Surely, so many regular Courts wouldn’t refuse to accept it, as the legal basis is clear and explicit.

Zhou Yun was not worried, because he still had one last major weapon: exposure.

You say that if a case is wrongly judged or something, it’s hard to change, as it relates to everyone’s livelihood, so there’s no problem with standing firm if it’s exposed.

However, if a case isn’t even accepted, then that’s inexcusable.

Soon, Zhou Yun began preparing the application. As for the reasons, that was even simpler; it was too easy for a professional lawyer to come up with reasons for a lawsuit.

Look, my client wears uniforms with your company’s name, pulls boxes with your company’s name, and is even managed by your company’s app algorithm…

Algorithms are also a form of management. You can’t say that algorithms have their own consciousness and can manage riders themselves, can you?

Delivery times are getting tighter and tighter, who did it? Standards are getting stricter and stricter, who did it? Don’t push everything onto big data and algorithms. Do algorithms have legal personality?

Don’t worry about anything else; as long as the reasons are sufficient to initiate arbitration, the rest doesn’t matter, and it’s not about winning.

For the entire afternoon, Zhou Yun stayed in the hotel and didn’t go out much. The arbitration application, issues with insurance, and subsequent handling methods, etc., all required time to prepare.

Time quickly moved to the next day. Zhou Yun, with his bag slung over his shoulder, carrying the application and relevant evidence, left the hotel and headed straight for the Changhua District Labor Dispute Arbitration Court.

Inside the window of the Changhua District Labor Dispute Arbitration Court, staff member Lin Yufei was attending to people applying for arbitration.

There were more and more labor disputes now, and their office had become busy; they had even started using a calling system for queues.

Accompanied by the sound of the number caller, a young man came to the window and handed in his application and other materials.

Lin Yufei took them with a blank expression. It wasn’t that he didn’t like to smile, but after working at the window for a long time, he basically stopped smiling.

“Food delivery rider confirmation of employment relationship, huh? This name looks familiar. Did you apply before?”

The handsome young man outside was Zhou Yun. Hearing this, he smiled and said, “Yes, I applied before to confirm the employment relationship, but I lost, so I’m reapplying.”

Lin Yufei continued to look, then was stunned: “No, wait, your applicant is Capital Hongquan Company? Are you sure you didn’t make a mistake?”

At this moment, Lin Yufei felt that the other party might have been drinking fake alcohol. In all his years at the window, he had seen many food delivery riders initiate arbitration, but he had never seen anyone directly arbitrate that Emperor Capital company.

Zhou Yun said with a smile, “Of course, I didn’t make a mistake. Oh, right, I’m the proxy lawyer. This is the power of attorney.”

As he spoke, Zhou Yun handed over the power of attorney. Lin Yufei took it and was immediately dumbfounded.

“You… you are Zhou Yun?”