Risk of the Sharing Economy for Insurance Companies
Episode 13: NYC's New Freelancer Protection Law And The Future Of The On-Demand Economy
Post-Election Predictions: What the Hospitality Industry Can Expect in 2017
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Ninth Circuit, following the Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, has upheld the validity of class-action waivers in Uber’s arbitration agreement, and has held that a named...more
The First Circuit recently held that an arbitration clause contained in the online contract of the ride sharing app, Uber Technologies, Inc., is unenforceable under Massachusetts law. ...more
An overview of last Friday’s jobs report, which saw the US adding fewer jobs than expected but also tracked a welcomed increase in wages for the least-educated workers....more
With new developments regarding Uber Technologies Inc.’s 2016 data breach coming out almost daily, lawsuits against the company continue to pile-up. We previously reported that within days of Uber disclosing the data theft...more
Facebook may have had a difficult day on the Hill. But a 79% rise in Q3 profit—driven, ironically enough, by online ads—should help soften the blow....more
Travis is still kicking around at Uber, and he made that quite clear late last week by using his “outsize voting rights” to name two directors to the 8-member board ahead of a vote to reduce Kalanick’s voting power at the...more
While the Journal considers the ever-growing list of headaches for Khosrowshahi, including a new federal bribery probe over potential Uber FCPA violations....more
Last week, the lawyers representing drivers who have sued Uber in California commenced another lawsuit on behalf of drivers alleging that Uber misclassified them as independent contractors instead of employees. This lawsuit,...more
The Times gives us an intriguing long read on Uber’s Travis Kalanick, the controversial CEO whose vision has helped propel the ride-hailing company even as his no-limits approach has led the company into months of crisis....more
A pair of recent opinions proves that when it comes to compelling arbitration in a consumer class action, presentation of the arbitration clause may matter more than favorable Supreme Court precedent. First, in Norcia v....more
Late last week, a federal court judge in California approved a settlement agreement whereby ride-sharing company Lyft agreed to pay $27 million to approximately 95,000 California drivers who alleged they were misclassified as...more
Judges in California will likely soon issue rulings affecting two ride-sharing companies, Uber and Lyft. Those connected with the Lyft case will be pleased because it is expected that a federal district court judge in San...more
Four of the eight court cases we report on below in our February 2017 monthly update of IC misclassification cases involve Uber, and each of those cases were victories for the ride-sharing, on-demand company. Although none of...more
A California court quietly granted ride-sharing giant Uber a significant victory last week in the ongoing misclassification battle over whether its drivers are properly classified as independent contractors. Although this...more
January was a busy month for independent contractor misclassification – and IC compliance. In addition to Lowe’s $2.85 million settlement with installers whom it classified as ICs, Lufthansa agreed to pay $1.1 million in...more
In our update for last month’s developments in this area of the law, we report on five significant court cases involving companies in the transportation industry that use ICs as an integral part of their business model. Each...more
The Ninth Circuit denied rehearing en banc of its September order holding that the district court erred in deciding whether two drivers who sued Uber Technologies, Inc. (“Uber”) on behalf of themselves and a putative class...more
Gig economy companies based on an independent contractor model beware. On December 14, 2016, a federal court in Pennsylvania denied a motion to dismiss an “on-call” wage claim in a class action lawsuit filed against Uber by...more
Our news update for last month highlights the fact that IC misclassification lawsuits are happening across the country and in virtually every industry, both in the on-demand economy and in more traditional business sectors....more
Our update for this past month is noteworthy for the fact that we report below on IC misclassification lawsuits plaguing some of the largest and most recognizable companies in the U.S. (like Uber, Amazon, and FedEx) as well...more
A Northern District of California judge refused to preliminarily approve a class settlement of Uber customers who used its “Rideshare Services” in which Uber would have paid class members $28.5 million. The court was...more
This month’s news update includes three initiatives by the U.S. Department of Labor to combat IC misclassification. The first was the issuance of a new page on the DOL website called “Misclassification Mythbusters.” We...more
This case involves a putative class action filed in federal court in New York in 2015 by Spencer Meyer against Travis Kalanick, the founder of Uber Technologies, Inc., alleging that Kalanick “orchestrated and participated in...more
Earlier yesterday, Uber was dealt yet another setback in its efforts to settle the IC misclassification lawsuits brought against it by Uber drivers in California and Massachusetts. As readers of this legal blog will recall...more
Four of the five independent contractor (IC) misclassification cases reported below from July 2016 illustrate how companies continue to fail to structure, document, and implement a business’s IC relationships in a manner that...more