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U.S. Judge Says UberBLACK Drivers Are Not Company's Employees

posted by Fnord666 on Sunday April 15 2018, @08:16PM   Printer-friendly
from the independent-employees dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

A U.S. judge in Philadelphia has ruled that limousine drivers for Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] are independent contractors and not the company’s employees under federal law, the first ruling of its kind on a crucial issue for the ride-hailing company.

U.S. District Judge Michael Baylson on Wednesday said San Francisco-based Uber does not exert enough control over drivers for its limo service, UberBLACK, to be considered their employer under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. The drivers work when they want to and are free to nap, run personal errands, or smoke cigarettes in between rides, Baylson said.

The legal classification of workers has been a major issue for “gig economy” companies that rely on independent contractors. Uber, in particular, has been hit with dozens of lawsuits in recent years claiming that its drivers are employees and are entitled to minimum wage, overtime, and other legal protections not afforded to contractors.

An Uber spokeswoman said the company is pleased with the decision.

Jeremy Abay, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said he would appeal the ruling to the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The 3rd Circuit would be the first federal appeals court to consider whether Uber drivers are properly classified as independent contractors.

[...] The case is Razak v. Uber Technologies Inc, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, No. 2:16-cv-00573.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 17 2018, @03:48AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 17 2018, @03:48AM (#667939)

    Could have both apps installed but being logged in simultaneously might cause issues:

    In the past, if you didn’t accept enough of the ride requests that you received, Uber would warn you and deactivate your for having a low acceptance rate. As of April 2016, Uber will no longer do this. Instead, Uber will warn you via text and email that you aren’t accepting enough rides, and if you continue to keep a low acceptance rate, they can temporarily lock you out of the app.

    So if you're somehow too busy working for Lyft you might get suspended from Uber. So logout from uber when busy.

    In contrast Lyft doesn't seem to do that, so I'd say Lyft drivers are contractors.

    When giving Lyft rides, you have the right to accept or ignore any ride request. You're always free to decline ride requests you don't want, but declined requests will still count toward your total ride requests when we calculate your acceptance rate.

    https://uberpeople.net/threads/does-lyft-deactivate-for-low-acceptance-rating.149393/ [uberpeople.net]