Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.
A Lyft driver has filed a class action lawsuit claiming that the ride-hailing company logs drivers off if they perform fewer than 180 rides in a 30 day period.
Plaintiff MD Islam says that, in the early days of Lyft, the company encouraged their drivers to work full-time hours by enticing them with higher pay if they would work 30-50 hours or more per week.
Islam claims that Lyft promised drivers a “Power Drivers Bonus” in which the company would cut its commission by 50 percent for drivers who worked 30-49 hours per week. In addition, the plaintiff claims that this fee would be lifted entirely if drivers worked more than 50 hours per week.
That said, because an increase of drivers were working more hours, the for-hire vehicle market became saturated with drivers. As a result of the saturation, app-based drivers began to work for more than one ride-hailing company, hoping that they would receive dispatches from two or more companies.
Islam says that drivers would now work 50 hours per week, but would perform less trips for each company that they worked for, because the number of rides was split between the two companies.
In the summer of 2018, due to the number of suicides in the vehicle-for-hire industry, the plaintiff claims that the New York City Council passed two laws to improve the lives of drivers.
The first bill, Local Law 147, further limited the amount of licenses that would be issued to drivers. The second law, Local Law 150, gave the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) to issue rules that would govern earnings standards for those drivers who worked for companies such as Lyft and Uber.
In June 2019, the plaintiff alleges that Lyft began to limit drivers access to their app, in an attempt to avoid its obligations under the new TLC rules, which ensured that drivers earned a decent minimum wage for all of the hours they performed while working for the company.
“Such actions violate the spirit, if not the letter, of TLC regulations intended to confer basic labor protections upon some of the City’s most vulnerable low-wage workers,” the Lyft class action lawsuit says.
These forced log-outs are a material breach of the contracts that they have with their drivers, Islam says, which specifically provides that drivers would have no restrictions on where and when they access the app.
In addition, the forced log-outs “amount to nothing short of short term layoffs” for workers who have come to depend on their full-time work in order to meet expenses and support their families, the Lyft class action lawsuit maintains.
The plaintiff says that, as a Lyft driver, he supports his wife and two small children, as well as sends money back home. He claims that in 2014 he purchased a new Toyota Camry to use as his Lyft vehicle. Islam states that the car is now paid off, but he still carries an insurance policy for the vehicle which costs $308 per month.
Before Lyft started restricting access to the app, Islam claims that he worked a full-time driving schedule for the company.
For example, he alleges that during the 10 weeks from Oct. 7, 2019 to Dec. 15, 2019, he averaged 93.8 trips per week, 39.51 online hours per week and earned a net pay of $1,349.82 from Lyft each week.
During that time, Islam says that he averaged more than 180 trips over a 30 -day period and thus, Lyft did not forcibly log him off the app and he could work as much as he wanted to.
On December 2019, Islam states that he left New York to visit his mother in Bangladesh, who had become seriously ill. When he returned to New York on Jan. 19, 2020, he discovered he was no longer able to access the Lyft app and work his previous schedule. He alleges that, because he did not perform 180 trips in a span of 30 days, Lyft was limiting his access to the app.
The Lyft class action claims that, during this period, he tried to work as much as he previously had, but could only get roughly half as many online hours as he had before, the result of which he earned significantly less take-home pay.
Islam says that, during the first three complete work weeks after being forcible logged off from Lyft, he has averaged only 45.33 trips per week, 19.78 online hours per week and has taken home a net pay of $612.80 per week.
To this day, Islam says he is still subject to Lyft’s policy of logging him off as he has still not been able to log more than 180 hours in 30 days. In addition, his income has declined more due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he argues.
Are you a Lyft driver with a similar experience? Leave a message in the comments section below.
The plaintiff is represented by Zubin Soleimany of New York Taxi Workers Alliance and Jeanne Mirer and Ria Julien of Mirer Mazzocchi & Julien PLLC.
The Lyft Driver Class Action Lawsuit is Islam v. Lyft Inc., Case No. 1:20-cv-03004, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
ATTORNEY ADVERTISING
Top Class Actions is a Proud Member of the American Bar Association
LEGAL INFORMATION IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE
Top Class Actions Legal Statement
©2008 – 2024 Top Class Actions® LLC
Various Trademarks held by their respective owners
This website is not intended for viewing or usage by European Union citizens.
32 thoughts onLyft Class Action Claims Drivers Wrongfully Logged Off App
My dad started driving to help me after my mother died in June out of nowhere to pay bills because I also lost my day job the same week. I referred him to the app so it said I would get a 550$ bonus and he would get a 1500$ bonus if he did 100 rides in 30 days. He had drove two passengers home from they’re dinking party and they highly smelt of liquor and the smell got on my car he uses. And straight after dropping them off he got a woman passenger who did not ask him anything about it but next day he had a complaint that he was drinking and driving while Lyft driving and they told him he was suspended for investigation. It took two weeks and he gave them all the information instead of conferring with the two drunk passengers right away they took longer it made it to where he had a week to do 70 out of 100 rides that he had left.
We asked for a extension because it was a claim that was false and they did no extension. The 30 days was supposed to last till end of day Saturday august 6th. He had 3 days left and only needed 23 left the Lyft app purposely gave home fewer rides..even on a busy Friday and Saturday. On my Lyft app it said it was a whole lot more busy than his did. And Saturday comes…even though it had no time limit and my bonus started when his did. At 4:05 pm mine said it had ended and his now said he had till 630 pm to finish by Saturday he only needed 13 left. So we asked friends n family ta come over help with rides to get them most of them had no Lyft app so we used my app to request all of them and we made them all not too far away all said none were more than 3.50 each for the 11/13 we had left to do. Every drop off or pick up my app told me 1.95 charged 1.68 charged or 3.05 charged. As soon as the last two got made it went from 6:30 time span to deadline at 6:12 pm. The last ride was done by 6:12 pm he even got a weekend bonus of 100$ for getting the $100 rides. And they did not give him the bonus or did I get my $550 bonus and he had a ride from earlier in the day that they never talked to the passenger about because he did the Lyft ride for him but the passenger canceled after drop off and was supposed ta call them back to fix it and visa vers and never did. That alone before ether last ride we did would have been 100 rides. And in the last few days…
I look at my account it says all rides were 4.97 not the 1.68 1.97 3.05 2.68 that they were and half of them were 0 balance like they didn’t exist. And his Lyft driver app even says it is negative 102$ because they took away the 100$ bonus for the weekend that he got too. They were rides in the same area yes but they were rides and they took everything away and even gave us negative balances. I have negative 4.97 because eit is trying to say I still owe for a ride.
We have sent them message after message after message one moment they say week will look into it get back to you in a few minutes and even told me at one point he didn’t make his 100 rides so that is why he didn’t get the bonus and neither did I when we made them.
I worked for Uber/Lyft. I had been illegally. Logged out when I argued about less payments
Please add me
They suspend my account with no reason. They dont care about the drivers.
My name is Aaron Roman I’ve been driving with LYFT for 2+ years already yesterday my account was deactivated because a customer lied on me because she hit my car with a shopping cart and scraped my car so I cancelled and made a report I get a call saying I’m getting deactivated for things the customer said I said to her when all I did was cancel the ride and made a report LYFT DOESNT NOT CARE ABOUT THEIR DRIVERS A IVE NEVER HAD AN ISSUE TO JUST NOT BELIEVE ME AND I SENT PHOTO planning on trying to get video footage of the outside of the store and take legal actions
They threatened my driver account many times when I denied passengers due to safety issues or concerns. I have complained on numerous occasions even offered suggestions on how this could be better handled. I am a driver with over 15k rides and experienced with knowledge of how to spot certain attributes that would suggest not to pick up a ride. I would like to speak further on my Lyft experiences to see if there are additional suits that could be performed.
My account was canceled because a passenger hit my car with a cart so I cancel and made a report the customer then went back and told Lyft a bunch of lies about me and the deactivated me now I’m stuck with a damaged car from one of their customers we have to put up with their customers disrespectful mouths and stay quiet just to keep working LYFT DOES NOT CARE ABOUT THEIR DRIVERS SAFETY I HAVENT GOTTA AN EMAIL BACK AND I CANT GET ON MY ACCOUNT TO FIGHT IT
They threatened my driver account many times when I denied passengers due to safety issues or concerns. I have complained on numerous occasions even offered suggestions on how this could be better handled. I am a driver with over 15k rides and experienced with knowledge of how to spot certain attributes that would suggest not to pick up a ride. I would like to speak further on my Lyft experiences to see if there are additional suits that could be performed.