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Uber Drivers Pay Class Action Overview:
- Who: Massachusetts Uber drivers alleging they are entitled to labor law protections, including sick pay.
- Why: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Uber drivers must take their employment and sick pay claims through arbitration.
- Where: Claims will be handled on an individual basis in arbitration proceedings rather than in court as a single class action lawsuit.
Uber drivers pay and other claims will need to be worked out on an individual basis through arbitration and not a class action proceeding, according to a recent ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Arbitration is different from a class action lawsuit, which takes place in court. Instead, arbitration is a private process that forces individual rather than group claims, according to the American Bar Association. While a supposedly “neutral” arbitrator oversees the process, consumer advocates worry that powerful corporations, such as Uber, have the upper hand against individuals, such as their drivers, although Amazon made waves when it axed its arbitration clause recently.
Uber Drivers Pay, Sick Leave Challenged Amid Pandemic
In 2019, Uber and Lyft were hit with twin lawsuits in federal court seeking employment status for Massachusetts drivers along with sick pay and other benefits. The class action lawsuit lodged against Uber was transferred to California federal court.
In 2020, Uber drivers submitted affidavits stating that, by failing to classify them as employees, the company forced them to work during the coronavirus pandemic — even if they were symptomatic.
The Uber driver pay class action lawsuit was tossed to arbitration by a California federal judge in May 2020, despite claims that the drivers were exempt. The drivers appealed, but a recent ruling by the Ninth Circuit will likely see them out of the courtroom for the time being.
“The court further cemented the inability for Uber drivers to obtain relief from Uber’s systemic violation of wage and hour laws,” a lawyer representing the Uber drivers said in a statement to Law360 on Monday. “I expect we will seek further review from the Ninth Circuit, but the real relief will come when Congress brings some sanity back to this area of law and ends forced arbitration.”
As the use of delivery services skyrocketed during the pandemic, ride hailing and delivery drivers have mounted class action lawsuits involving DoorDash and Amazon alleging the companies purposefully misclassify workers as independent contractors to avoid paying minimum wage, sick benefits, and overtime.
Do you work for a ride hailing service? What do you think of the Uber drivers pay class action lawsuit? Tell us about it in the comment section below!
The plaintiffs are represented by Shannon Liss-Riordan and Anne Kramer of Lichten & Liss-Riordan PC.
The Uber Driver Pay Class Action Lawsuit is Capriole v. Uber Technologies Inc., et al., Case No. 1:19-cv-11941 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
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