Uber recently agreed to pay $8.4 million to settle a class-action lawsuit with California drivers who claimed they were misclassified as independent contractors, rather than employees. The U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California approved the settlement on July 21.
The settlement applies to drivers who used the Uber Rides App in California between Feb. 28, 2019, and Dec. 16, 2020, or who used the Uber EATS App in California between June 28, 2016, and Oct. 7, 2021, and who opted out of Uber's arbitration agreement. It does not reclassify drivers as employees.
"These kinds of cases are becoming very common in California," said Jennifer Shaw of Shaw Law Group in Sacramento, Calif. "Independent contractor issues have been in the news for several years, but we are seeing more cases being filed.
"One of the most important takeaways is that intent does not matter," she added. "There are very strict requirements for establishing valid independent contractor arrangements, and if they aren't satisfied, that's the end of the story. Many of our clients push the envelope when it comes to these kinds of arrangements, which is certainly their prerogative. But it's becoming more and more difficult to avoid liability for misclassification claims."
Uber, headquartered in San Francisco, has about 1 million U.S. drivers and about 29,000 employees worldwide. It posted more than $8 billion in revenue in the second quarter of this year.
"This case was very public and heavily...
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