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Am I fair if I sum the business model as follows? Homejoy:

* proposed a service best provided by employees,

* planned to save money by using independent contractors,

* but had no plan about addressing any of the consequences of using independent contractors.

The service is "best provided by people who have experience doing that thing", be they employees or contractors. There's no value to any one of the three parties (Homejoy, customer, contractor) in the cleaner being an "employee". It's not bad/good; it's just not a factor in this situation. Do I care, as a homeowner, that the person coming from Homejoy is an employee or a contractor? It's likely that I prefer them to be an employee but, if the price is right, I could care less...

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