The attorneys general of Minnesota and the District of Columbia filed suit against Birmingham-based Shipt yesterday, alleging that the company misclassifies its workers as independent contractors to skirt labor costs.

According to Grocery Dive, the two suits also claim Shipt’s classification denies worker protections such as minimum wage, sick time and overtime.

D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine said the company denies full-time workers “basic employment rights by deploying an increasingly prevalent misclassification scheme,” which avoids safety protections, legal obligations to pay into public programs, and shifts business costs to workers.

“Increasingly, we’re seeing companies abuse hard-working District residents by fraudulently calling them independent contractors and, as a result, denying them wages and benefits they are legally owed,” Racine said.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said Shipt is enriching itself “while leaving workers to fend for themselves. Unlike other employees, these workers have no clarity on how much they will be paid day-to-day, and they often don’t receive the minimum wage and overtime they’re entitled to.”

Shipt Spokesperson Evangeline George said, in a statement, that the “flexibility that comes with being an independent contractor is the primary reason Shipt Shoppers choose to earn on our platform.  We strongly disagree with the action taken by these two Attorneys General, and we’ll continue advocating for Shoppers and the opportunity to earn flexible income across Minnesota and Washington, D.C.”

The company also pointed to a survey of more than 1,200 app-based workers across the U.S. released this week that showed 77% saying they support maintaining their current classification as independent contractors. About 80% of those surveyed said they spend about 20 hours or less per week using the work platforms.

Both lawsuits contend that Shipt holds all the cards, controlling access between customers and its Shoppers, as well as setting the markup on goods.

The D.C. suit seeks damages and penalties, and to recover unpaid wages and paid sick leave it says are owed to Shipt employees, as well as forcing the company to pay into D.C.’s public programs. The Minnesota suit seeks, among other things, civil penalties of up to $25,000 for each count.