Uber Owes Drivers Workers’ Comp Coverage, Class Action Claims

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California law requires Uber to provide workers’ compensation benefits to its drivers, according to the plaintiff in a new class action lawsuit.

On behalf of himself and a proposed Class of Uber drivers, plaintiff Thomas McCartney is seeking to compel defendant Uber Technologies Inc. to cover its drivers’ losses related to work-related injuries.

Uber, which produces a mobile app that lets users request a car ride from a fleet of local Uber drivers, has lately been embroiled in litigation brought by drivers seeking legal protections as employees.

Uber has insisted that its drivers are independent contractors, not employees. Maintaining a strictly contractor-to-contractor relationship would allow Uber to avoid considerable costs associated with having employees, like payroll taxes and mandatory benefits.

But many Uber drivers say the independent contractor designation is not correct. They claim that the details of their business relationship with Uber clearly makes it an employer-employee relationship.

As employees, drivers claim, they are entitled to all the legal protections that employees get under state and federal employment laws. Among other things, those protections include minimum wage requirements and a higher wage for overtime work – and as in McCartney’s case, workers’ compensation coverage for injuries sustained on the job.

Since at least as early as 2013, McCartney alleges Uber has refused to reimburse drivers for expenses related to injuries they incurred while driving for the company.

McCartney himself used to drive for Uber in an Uber-supplied 2006 Nissan Sentra, until he was seriously injured while driving one night in January 2017.

While picking up passengers just after midnight, McCartney says he was injured severely enough that he had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance. He has since been unable to work due to his injuries, he claims.

He asked Uber for workers’ compensation benefits, but Uber refused. McCartney says he was then forced to seek California state benefits like Medi-Cal and disability benefits as an alternative to workers compensation.

By refusing to pay for workers’ compensation, Uber is reaping a “financial boon” at the expense of its drivers and California taxpayers, McCartney claims.

“At all times relevant, defendants and each of them placed extensive financial burden on the state, to provide for these injured employees,” the Uber class action lawsuit reads. “At all times relevant, defendants and each of them acted unfairly, capriciously and caused loss and harm to plaintiff(s).”

McCartney seeks to represent a plaintiff Class consisting of all Uber drivers designated as independent contractors during the last four years who were injured while driving for Uber, and all drivers who were allegedly deprived of their rights under the California Labor Code provisions at issue here.

He seeks an award of damages and all available equitable relief, plus court costs, attorney’s fees, and applicable interest.

McCartney is represented by attorney Timothy J. Donahue of the Law Offices of Timothy J. Donahue.

The Uber Workers’ Compensation Class Action Lawsuit is McCartney v. Uber Technologies Inc., Case No. 37-2017-00028818-CU-NP-CTL, in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of San Diego.