Brigette Honaker  |  November 5, 2019

Category: Labor & Employment

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skip the dishes on smartphoneA SkipTheDishes driver class action in Canada has been forced to halt while the country’s highest court makes a decision on Uber drivers’ rights.

This week, the Supreme Court of Canada will be hearing the case of an Uber Eats driver. Depending on the court’s decision, which will likely come next year, the outcome of pending class action lawsuits could be drastically affected.

Uber Eats driver David Heller filed an Uber class action lawsuit against the rideshare company challenging his classification as an independent contractor. According to Heller, he and other Uber drivers should be classified as full employees and given the associated benefits.

Heller’s Uber class action was reportedly blocked by Uber’s legal terms which force workers to settle disputes in out of court arbitration. The company’s arbitration clause was later ruled illegal by the Ontario Court of Appeal, which called the arbitration clause“unconscionable” and “invalid.” The decision has since been elevated to Canada’s Supreme Court.

The decision from the Canadian Supreme Court will have far reaching effects on pending legal action around the country.

Arbitration clauses are consistently used in employment contracts and other agreements to prevent employees from representing a Class of other workers in a class action lawsuit.

Should the Supreme Court of Canada determine that arbitration clauses cannot be used in certain situations, the outcome of the SkipTheDishes class action lawsuit may be affected.

Plaintiff Charleen Pokornik filed her SkipTheDishes class action last year claiming that she and other drivers were wrongfully classified as independent contractors. This classification allegedly allowed the company to deny their drivers benefits and protections owed to full employees.

Unlike full employees, independent contractors are not covered by labor laws that determine minimum wage, overtime pay, holiday pay, and other benefits. Pokornik argues that SkipTheDishes cannot classify their workers as independent contractors because they are in a position of power and control over the drivers. This control reportedly qualifies drivers as full employees under Canadian law.

Just days before Pokornik filed her SkipTheDishes class action, the company allegedly updated their courtier agreements to include arbitration clauses. The new section reportedly stated “[any] claim you may have must be brought individually…and not as a representative plaintiff or class member, and you will not join such claims…against the Company or any related entity.”

Pokornik claims that the company intentionally changed their terms so that drivers could not effectively organize and bring class action claims.

Should the Supreme Court rule that these clauses are not applicable, it could be good news for Pokornik’s SkipTheDishes class action lawsuit. In light of this pending decision, the SkipTheDishes class action will reportedly be halted.

“What the Supreme Court rules in that case isn’t going to be determinative of the entire Skip the Dishes claim, but it will clearly be relevant to that claim, so it was just felt that it made sense to wait,” Pokornik’s lawyer said, according to the Winnipeg Free Press.

Are you working as an independent contractor but believe you should be classified as an employee? Share your story with us in the comments below!

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One thought on Canada’s SkipTheDishes Class Action On Hold While Highest Court Rules On Uber Lawsuit

  1. Paul says:

    I work for Skip too. I need representation.

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