I think the fact that ACL has shopper employees in one state and not in others doesn't bode well for their defense. Most others contract through a separate PI firm in NV.
I see so many complaints about pay rates and shopper protection, but then others come on here and defend the IC status of shoppers. You can't really have it both ways. Employee status is not an end to MSing in any way, or Nevada would not have mystery shopping!
As someone who has worked in CA as an employee shopper, I can assure you that there are many benefits that outweigh the drawbacks. This is an MSC that often goes begging for shoppers. They will not be in a position to demand that shoppers take particular shops unless they pay an attractive fee, or they will not have any employees.
ACL makes plenty of $$ and is notoriously stingy with fees. I gave up working for them years ago based on that, and would be happy to see their shopper status reclassified so that they are forced to treat shoppers fairly...