Uber threatened by federal court in Cali

[Peter1469]

Uber threatened by federal court in California. (http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/09/01/3697798/uber-drivers-class-action-granted/)

A federal law suit is challenging the way Uber's business model operates- i.e. its drivers are self employed contractors rather than employees. If the court rules against Uber it could have devastating affects on the company.


Uber’s business model is on the rocks late Tuesday after a federal judge granted class-action status to a lawsuit targeting the company’s treatment of drivers as independent contractors.

The case is one of several high-profile suits brought by drivers against the technology start-up that has displaced traditional taxis in many markets. A California labor board ruled against the company in a separate but similar case earlier this summer, in an administrative decision that does not bind the courts but outlined some weaknesses in Uber’s legal argument (http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/06/17/3670657/uber-misclassification-contractors-ruling/).

It is definitely a case to watch.

Read more at the link.

[Ethereal]

Government regulators are trying to destroy Uber's business model. Plain and simple. California "progressives" started this attack and now the Federal "progressives" want to finish it.

This is especially distressing for someone in my generation, not only because I like Uber, but because this regulatory crusade portends a broader regulatory attack on the sharing economy ecosystem to which Uber belongs, since they employ similar business models. That means other platforms like AirBnB might be next.

My only reason for optimism is the potential backlash this regulatory assault could have with millennials, who are becoming increasingly politically relevant. This seems like the best way for politicians, especially Democrats, to lose lots of support among the younger generations.

[Ethereal]

This could even be relevant in the upcoming Presidential election, because Hillary Clinton is totally on board with the regulatory assault against what she derisively referred to as the "gig" economy.

Hillary Clinton Wants to Destroy the Sharing Economy. Here's Why That's a Terrible Idea. (http://reason.com/archives/2015/07/16/hillary-clintons-policies-would-thwart-i)

Every young person should be very worried about this. Technologies like Uber and AirBnB empower young people by providing easy access to lucrative marketplaces (transportation and housing). Heaping on regulations that were largely drafted in the early 20th century will erect massive barriers to entry that most young people will be powerless to circumvent.

If I didn't know better, I would say there are a substantial amount of DC politicians and officials who don't want Americans to be independent and self-reliant.

[Ethereal]

Think of how easy it is to find work with Uber right now. And you can set your own hours, too. Of course it's not perfect, but it's easy and it works for lots of people. Clinton and people like her want to choke the life out of the sharing economy by drowning it in an a morass of obsolete government regulations written many decades before "smartphones" and "GPS" were common knowledge. This will only benefit the entrenched interests who Uber and other sharing platforms are displacing. It certainly will NOT help the US economy grow and develop.

[Peter1469]

Progressive economic policy is stunting the economy and real job growth, and now progressives want to stomp out new models that could be our future.

[Ethereal]

Progressive economic policy is stunting the economy and real job growth, and now progressives want to stomp out new models that could be our future.

Absolutely terrible. And they wonder why so many people are stuck in poverty.

[Common]

Uber has another problem their drivers just won the right to unionize in court also.

[Peter1469]

Uber has another problem their drivers just won the right to unionize in court also.

They are going protest themselves out of work. Courts can't force Uber to change its business model.

[Common]

They are going protest themselves out of work. Courts can't force Uber to change its business model.

I just dont know enough about any of this to make a comment except that the taxi owners are starting to organize against uber. Uber is a huge threat to them

[Common]

Seems uber drivers have a class action law suit in the works for labor violations by the company. It seems uber drivers want to be employees and not sub contractors and want to unionize.


If you start looking theres a ton of lawsuits by the drivers and they are winning. This california ruling is not the first against the company.

Uber told drivers to take showers, and now it’s being used against them in court



When you get in an Uber, you hope your driver has showered and the car is not a mess. However, the fact that Uber once told its drivers not to "forget to shower" is now part of a key legal battle that the ride-hailing company faces. The ride-hailing company suffered a major legal setback on Tuesday when a San Francisco judge ruled that the jobs of Uber drivers in California are similar enough that workers can sue the company as a class.
In a decision granting class action status to the lawsuit (http://www.businessinsider.com/judge-grants-class-action-status-to-uber-drivers-2015-9), Judge Edward Chen of the U.S. District Court Northern District of California cited Uber's training materials, which included instructions on how to clean the car and how drivers should look, as one example of how Uber exercised a right to control its drivers.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/uber-tells-drivers-showers-may-233107266.html


Florida Agency Says Uber Drivers Are Employees, Not Contractors


There are a series of big important lawsuits (https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150202/07155129880/judges-may-deflate-massive-opportunity-declaring-uber-lyft-drivers-employees-rather-than-independent-contractors.shtml) currently under way, exploring the question of whether or not drivers for ride hailing services like Uber and Lyft are "employees" or "contractors." It seems fairly obvious that they should be contractors -- they use their own equipment, they set their own schedules, they work on their own, etc. However, some are really trying to have them declared as employees, giving them access to things like regular salaries, overtime pay, benefits and such. It would also, most likely, mean many fewer opportunities for drivers, less flexibility and a lot less innovative a service. While the lawsuits are ongoing, down in Florida, the Department of Economic Opportunity has skipped all the judicial nonsense and just declared that Uber drivers are employees (http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/article21599697.html), allowing them to sign up for unemployment benefits.
This week, Florida notified Cutler Bay’s Darrin McGillis that he was in fact an employee of Uber while driving for the company earlier this year.

“I’m no longer an independent contractor,” the 46-year-old said while driving in the seven-seat Mitsubishi Outlander he bought to boost his Uber income. He’s now hoping there might be a change to pursue reimbursement on gasoline and even overtime. “All these things come into play.”

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150531/22453531168/florida-agency-says-uber-drivers-are-employees-not-contractors.shtml

[Peter1469]

I just dont know enough about any of this to make a comment except that the taxi owners are starting to organize against uber. Uber is a huge threat to them

True. Taxi owners use to have monopolies, or near monopolies in their locations. In Chicago (http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/05/17/taxi-medallion-values-decline-uber-rideshare/27314735/) the price of a medallion (per cab) was over $350K. It is down by about $100K because of Uber and dropping more.

[Peter1469]

Seems uber drivers have a class action law suit in the works for labor violations by the company. It seems uber drivers want to be employees and not sub contractors and want to unionize.


If you start looking theres a ton of lawsuits by the drivers and they are winning. This california ruling is not the first against the company.

Uber told drivers to take showers, and now it’s being used against them in court



When you get in an Uber, you hope your driver has showered and the car is not a mess. However, the fact that Uber once told its drivers not to "forget to shower" is now part of a key legal battle that the ride-hailing company faces. The ride-hailing company suffered a major legal setback on Tuesday when a San Francisco judge ruled that the jobs of Uber drivers in California are similar enough that workers can sue the company as a class.
In a decision granting class action status to the lawsuit (http://www.businessinsider.com/judge-grants-class-action-status-to-uber-drivers-2015-9), Judge Edward Chen of the U.S. District Court Northern District of California cited Uber's training materials, which included instructions on how to clean the car and how drivers should look, as one example of how Uber exercised a right to control its drivers.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/uber-tells-drivers-showers-may-233107266.html


Florida Agency Says Uber Drivers Are Employees, Not Contractors


There are a series of big important lawsuits (https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150202/07155129880/judges-may-deflate-massive-opportunity-declaring-uber-lyft-drivers-employees-rather-than-independent-contractors.shtml) currently under way, exploring the question of whether or not drivers for ride hailing services like Uber and Lyft are "employees" or "contractors." It seems fairly obvious that they should be contractors -- they use their own equipment, they set their own schedules, they work on their own, etc. However, some are really trying to have them declared as employees, giving them access to things like regular salaries, overtime pay, benefits and such. It would also, most likely, mean many fewer opportunities for drivers, less flexibility and a lot less innovative a service. While the lawsuits are ongoing, down in Florida, the Department of Economic Opportunity has skipped all the judicial nonsense and just declared that Uber drivers are employees (http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/article21599697.html), allowing them to sign up for unemployment benefits.
This week, Florida notified Cutler Bay’s Darrin McGillis that he was in fact an employee of Uber while driving for the company earlier this year.

“I’m no longer an independent contractor,” the 46-year-old said while driving in the seven-seat Mitsubishi Outlander he bought to boost his Uber income. He’s now hoping there might be a change to pursue reimbursement on gasoline and even overtime. “All these things come into play.”

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150531/22453531168/florida-agency-says-uber-drivers-are-employees-not-contractors.shtml




Labor boards and states will use any excuse to rule that someone is an employee as opposed to a contractor- at least for tax purposes. Read the rulings..., they typically are for tax purposes...

[Ethereal]

Seems uber drivers have a class action law suit in the works for labor violations by the company. It seems uber drivers want to be employees and not sub contractors and want to unionize.


If you start looking theres a ton of lawsuits by the drivers and they are winning. This california ruling is not the first against the company.

Uber told drivers to take showers, and now it’s being used against them in court



When you get in an Uber, you hope your driver has showered and the car is not a mess. However, the fact that Uber once told its drivers not to "forget to shower" is now part of a key legal battle that the ride-hailing company faces. The ride-hailing company suffered a major legal setback on Tuesday when a San Francisco judge ruled that the jobs of Uber drivers in California are similar enough that workers can sue the company as a class.
In a decision granting class action status to the lawsuit (http://www.businessinsider.com/judge-grants-class-action-status-to-uber-drivers-2015-9), Judge Edward Chen of the U.S. District Court Northern District of California cited Uber's training materials, which included instructions on how to clean the car and how drivers should look, as one example of how Uber exercised a right to control its drivers.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/uber-tells-drivers-showers-may-233107266.html


Florida Agency Says Uber Drivers Are Employees, Not Contractors


There are a series of big important lawsuits (https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150202/07155129880/judges-may-deflate-massive-opportunity-declaring-uber-lyft-drivers-employees-rather-than-independent-contractors.shtml) currently under way, exploring the question of whether or not drivers for ride hailing services like Uber and Lyft are "employees" or "contractors." It seems fairly obvious that they should be contractors -- they use their own equipment, they set their own schedules, they work on their own, etc. However, some are really trying to have them declared as employees, giving them access to things like regular salaries, overtime pay, benefits and such. It would also, most likely, mean many fewer opportunities for drivers, less flexibility and a lot less innovative a service. While the lawsuits are ongoing, down in Florida, the Department of Economic Opportunity has skipped all the judicial nonsense and just declared that Uber drivers are employees (http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/article21599697.html), allowing them to sign up for unemployment benefits.
This week, Florida notified Cutler Bay’s Darrin McGillis that he was in fact an employee of Uber while driving for the company earlier this year.

“I’m no longer an independent contractor,” the 46-year-old said while driving in the seven-seat Mitsubishi Outlander he bought to boost his Uber income. He’s now hoping there might be a change to pursue reimbursement on gasoline and even overtime. “All these things come into play.”

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150531/22453531168/florida-agency-says-uber-drivers-are-employees-not-contractors.shtml




This makes me want to puke. It really does. These idiots have no idea how damaging their juvenile crusade could be for millions of people. This could result in thousands of people losing jobs and transportation, just so a few selfish losers can get some extra goodies from Uber.

[Peter1469]

They should work for a taxi company instead....

[texan]

This is the Taxi Monopoly and their union drivers attacking a great idea because they cannot compete.

I used Uber in San Fran for a week on vacation in August and it is GREAT service. They can't compete so they are going to a friendly judge hoping for a hail mary. It is BS, people do not have to be a contractor if they don't want to be.