Uber Drivers Urge Judge to Approve $7.5M FCRA Settlement

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A group of Uber drivers urged a federal judge to grant final approval to a $7.5 million settlement agreement in a class action accusing the ride share company of violating the Fair Credit and Reporting Act, despite objections.

Lead plaintiffs alleged in a class action lawsuit that Uber and a third party had violated their rights under the FCRA when they made adverse employment decisions based on background checks. The plaintiffs said that they and other drivers never had a chance to look at the background checks and correct them.

Uber and the third party hiring company agreed to settle the class action lawsuit by paying $7.5 million; however, a law office submitted a “mass opt out” of 548 Class Members last month.

Uber argued in a motion to the federal judge that the opt out submitted by the law firm should be disregarded. They pointed out that the filing did not include signatures for the Class Members who were included in the opt out. Additionally, argued Uber, the settlement agreement did not provide a provision allowing for a mass opt out.

The plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit also argued in support of the settlement agreement, noting that nearly 100,000 Class Members had voted for the settlement agreement and only six other Class Members had objected.

“The reaction from class members has been overwhelmingly positive, and strongly supports final approval,” the plaintiffs stated in court documents. “By submitting claim forms, some 99,243 class members have affirmatively voted ‘yes’ to this settlement, and requested their settlement share.”

Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Class Members would receive part of a $7.5 million payout from Uber to end the class action claims under the FCRA. A portion of the award will be deducted for attorney’s fees and costs and also go to the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency.

Uber and the class action plaintiffs argued that even with the deductions, Class Members will receive up to $73.99 per claim depending on whether they agreed to arbitration agreements.

“In the face of these significant litigation risks, the Settlement Agreement provides substantial, valuable relief to all Class Members, as well as important changes that will benefit future Uber drivers,” state the plaintiffs in their motion supporting the settlement agreement.

Further, point out the plaintiffs, the settlement agreement includes an injunction stopping Uber from using the background check forms that allegedly violated the FCRA.

“Moreover, the injunctive relief promised by the Settlement Agreement, which would prohibit Uber from using the allegedly unlawful background check forms and practices that form the basis of this action, is a great benefit, particularly in light of the disagreement that exists in the law as to whether injunctive relief is available to private plaintiffs under FCRA and the UCL,” notes the motion.

The plaintiffs are represented by Laura L. Ho, Andrew P. Lee and William C. Jhaveri-Weeks of Goldstein Borgen Dardarian & Ho; Tina Wolfson, Robert Ahdoot, Theodore W. Maya, and Bradley K. King of Ahdoot & Wolfson PC; and Elisa Della-Piana of Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area.

The Uber Unlawful Background Check Class Action Lawsuit is In re: Uber FCRA Litigation, Case No. 3:14-cv-05200, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.