A Washington State Uber driver recently filed a putative class action lawsuit alleging that he was wrongly classified by Uber as an independent contractor. The lawsuit seeks more than at least $44.5 million damages on behalf of a class of 15,000 Uber drivers. Read more about the suit here.
For a bit of editorializing on the topic: Perhaps the question that I get most from people who learn about my practice is about what I think of Uber and how it engages independent contractors. It seems the world knows that Uber’s drivers are classified as independent contractors, and that Uber is battling to prove that its independent contractor classification is appropriate under state and federal law…in the face of much skepticism. Speaking of Uber’s business model generally, I hope Uber can succeed. The company is defending an important business model – a model that is crucial to the modern economy, and that state and federal agencies have yet to catch up with, and to accept, and to sensibly regulate (where needed).
