Uber Seeks to Halt Lawsuit Pending Appeal; Judge Rejects Proposed Settlement in Lyft Case
Friday, April 8, 2016 | 0
Ride-hailing firm Uber Technologies is asking a federal court in California to halt an ongoing lawsuit by drivers who claim they were misclassified as contractors while the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reviews a trial court decision allowing more drivers into the case.
At the same time, a federal judge in California rejected a proposed $12.25 million settlement in a similar case drivers brought against Lyft, one of Uber’s rivals.
According to Bloomberg, Uber Technologies on Wednesday asked the federal court in San Francisco to stop action in its case until the 9th COA rules on a December decision allowing more than 200,000 California drivers to join the lawsuit. The appellate court agreed to review that decision on Tuesday.
The court did not explain why it agreed to review the decision.
U.S. District Judge Edward Chen in December said a mandatory arbitration clause in Uber’s driver contracts was improper in a decision that allowed hundreds of thousands of additional plaintiffs to join the case.
On Thursday, Bloomberg reported that drivers suing Uber are now trying to bring a “Private Attorneys General Act” complaint against the company. They’re using a 2004 California law that allows employees to bring enforcement actions against employers and split any penalties. The workers would receive 25% of any damages awarded, and the state would receive 75% of any award.
According to Bloomberg, if the Private Attorneys General Act action is successful, penalties could hit $1 billion.
Meanwhile, another federal judge in California rejected a $12.25 million settlement ride-hailing company Lyft agreed to in January to resolve misclassification allegations, according to a report by Reuters.
U.S. District Court Judge Vince Chhabria said the proposed settlement would pay drivers about half of what they deserve. The judge said the settlement “does not fall within the range of reasonableness” and ordered attorneys to continue negotiating, and return with another proposal by May.
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