On Tuesday, a federal judge in San Francisco granted class action status to a lawsuit by three Uber drivers who argue that they are more employees than independent contractors, as Uber contends. The class includes up to 160,000 Uber drivers in California, as long as they have not waived their right to class-action arbitration. Uber says that leaves a small number of potential plaintiffs, while the lawyer representing the drivers says it will include many thousands, and many more if the class action is widened to include all U.S. Uber drivers.
Class action suits generally give plaintiffs more leverage, and if the case ultimately goes against Uber, the car-service startup could be forced to pay for its drivers' Social Security, workers comp, unemployment and health insurance, and automotive maintenance costs. That would upend Uber's entire business model and possibly affect other companies based on the "sharing economy." Uber says it will appeal Judge Edward Chen's ruling, while plaintiff lawyer Shannon Liss-Riordan tells The Wall Street Journal that she and her clients "will seek reimbursement for expenses, as well as tips that were not distributed to Uber drivers, around the country."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Judges block $25B Kroger-Albertsons mergerSpeed Read The proposed merger between the supermarket giants was stalled when judges overseeing two separate cases blocked the deal
-
Rupert Murdoch loses 'Succession' court battleSpeed Read Murdoch wanted to give full control of his empire to son Lachlan, ensuring Fox News' right-wing editorial slant
-
Bitcoin surges above $100k in post-election rallySpeed Read Investors are betting that the incoming Trump administration will embrace crypto
-
Enron mystery: 'sick joke' or serious revival?Speed Read 23 years after its bankruptcy filing, the Texas energy firm has announced its resurrection
-
US charges Indian tycoon with bribery, fraudSpeed Read Indian billionaire Gautam Adani has been indicted by US prosecutors for his role in a $265 million scheme to secure solar energy deals
-
Boeing machinists approve contract, end strikeSpeed Read The company's largest union approved the new contract offer, ending a seven-week strike
-
US economy still strong in final preelection reportSpeed Read It grew at a solid 2.8% annual rate from July through September
-
Boeing machinists reject deal, continue strikeSpeed Read The rejection came the same day Boeing reported a $6.2 billion quarterly loss
