If you are a driver who has worked or is working for Uber Technologies, Inc. (including UberPool, UberX, Uber Select, Uber Black, and Uber SUV), or any of its subsidiary companies such as Rasier LLC., you may be entitled to wages Uber has withheld from you, as well as to other compensation.
It may seem intimidating to try to tackle a lawsuit against a large rideshare company on your own. Let us help you file an Uber lawsuit because you deserve to be treated like a formal employee.
Uber class action attorneys are ready to take action on your claim. We will work with you to seek justice and compensation via arbitration and settlement. Please contact Wilshire Law Firm immediately at (888) 603-5582 or fill out our contact form, and we will reply to you within 24 hours.
Again, please call us today! This phone number is a dedicated line, just for Uber drivers who wish to claim this class action lawsuit.
Uber’s Employee Misclassification
Uber has had a history of misclassifying its workers as contract workers, and not as employees. When Uber classifies their workers as independent contractors, they are not obligated to provide benefits such as minimum wage, paid sick leave, overtime pay, health and disability insurance, and unemployment insurance.
If a company misclassifies its employees, there are several different repercussions, including paying more in employment taxes. Additionally, there have been multiple class-action lawsuits filed against them, which have gone to mandatory arbitration and have often reached a hefty settlement.
If you have been a victim of employee misclassification while working for Uber, call our law office to discuss your case with qualified Uber class action attorneys. We have experience in Uber lawsuits and will help you seek any compensation you may be entitled to for your misclassification.
How does the “Upfront” Pricing Model Work?
According to Ridester, the upfront pricing model allows Uber riders to see their ride costs before they request the ride. With this model, Uber intended to ensure that riders weren’t overcharged when rides are complete.
Despite their advertising, this new pricing model ended up overcharging Uber riders and underpaying drivers, which led to controversy and legal repercussions.
Under the upfront pricing method, passengers were paying for Uber rides that were calculated as much higher than driver fares, and Uber was accused of pocketing the difference.
How did Uber Manipulate Your Earnings?
Did you know that the “Upfront” pricing model:
- Charged passengers a higher price by determining the cost of a ride using a longer route
- Gave the drivers (workers) a shorter, quicker route and a lower price for the ride
- Allowed Uber to retain the difference in the price for transportation, for profit
- Charged drivers a percentage of the cost of the ride, which Uber initially said would be paid for using their service
Wilshire Law Firm is representing any Uber driver as a plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit filed against Uber, and its subsidiaries Rasier, LLC, and Rasier-CA, LLC. Uber Technologies, Inc. and its subsidiaries have allegedly engaged in illegal actions to deprive drivers, their workers, or their earned wages. Additionally, the company is guilty of deliberately hiding the fraudulent, manipulative scheme (deployed as upfront pricing) from its passengers and drivers to boost their profits.
Uber Technologies, Inc. has been defrauding and deceiving their drivers by implementing their upfront pricing model, which calculates the cost of the ride before either party accepts. The model is a systematic scheme to notify drivers that their earnings are less than what they should be.
Seek the legal advice of a qualified Uber accident attorney, right now! Your part of a securities class action settlement is waiting for you.
Contradiction with California worker law
California, along with other states, has been at odds with Uber about abiding by employment laws in the recent past. The state of California aims to protect its workers by regulating gig economy companies.
On January 1, 2020, the state of California passed assembly bill 5 (AB5). This regulation made it more difficult for employers to classify California Uber drivers as independent contractors. The law targets explicitly protecting the rights of workers for Uber, Lyft, and other “gig economy” hiring applications.
Regardless of the legal repercussions, Uber and Lyft have repeatedly refused to comply with California law.
On August 10, 2020, A California judge ordered Uber and Lyft to reclassify their workers from independent contractors to employees with benefits. This order would protect California Uber and Lyft drivers with insurance, overtime pay, paid sick leave, and other related employee benefits.
Uber and Lyft will now have a much more challenging time meeting requirements for labor laws and classification of their employees as contractors. Additionally, their legal battles are just beginning, as the lawsuits continue to roll in from state to state.
How Much is an Uber Class Action Lawsuit Settlement?
As a result of their misclassification of drivers as employees, Uber will continue to face multiple different class-action lawsuits from across the country.
These lawsuits are in addition to the multiple legal controversies and lawsuits filed against the ride-sharing company related to sexual harassment and hostile work environment claims on all business levels.
Contact Uber class action attorneys today if Uber wrongly classified your employment. You may be entitled to part of a settlement, like many others defrauded by the ride-sharing company.
Uber Past Lawsuits
Known as the ride-sharing king, Uber faces its fair share of lawsuits. Time after time, Uber has made headlines for a variety of controversial reasons, including driver classification, pocketing driver gratuities, misleading passengers, passenger harassment and assault, inefficient background checks, and much more.
These lawsuits usually resulted in an arbitration agreement and are changing the way states look at labor laws, employees, and gig economy companies.
In 2016, Uber was almost forced to pay a $100 million settlement for not paying workers enough. The lawsuit, filed by drivers in Massachusetts, was three years in the making and claimed that Uber had been classifying its workers as independent contractors and not as actual employees.
Under the settlement, the plaintiff drivers would have remained independent contractors but would have been paid a part of the settlement. The lawsuit was ultimately struck down by the judge, as the court did not find the payment “fair and adequate.”
In July 2016, Uber settled another lawsuit for about $384,000 against ride-sharing passengers in Chicago. The plaintiff passengers claimed that Uber had been taking a percentage of gratuities. The app charged gratuities automatically as part of the ride, and riders believed that this gratuity would go to the driver. Instead, Uber had been pocketing this fare.
In January 2017, Uber settled a $20 million lawsuit brought on by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), for similar wage-related reasons. The FTC claimed the following:
“Uber claimed on its website that uberX drivers’ annual median income was more than $90,000 in New York and over $74,000 in San Francisco. The FTC alleges, however, that drivers’ annual median income was $61,000 in New York and $53,000 in San Francisco. In all, less than 10 percent of all drivers in those cities earned the yearly income Uber touted.”
As a part of Uber’s arbitration clause, the company agreed to stop falsifying advertisements about drivers’ potential income, programs offering or advertising vehicles or vehicle financing or leasing, and the terms and conditions of any vehicle financing or leasing.
These are just some of the lawsuits and arbitration agreement settlements that the ride-sharing company has faced. In class action lawsuits, arbitration agreements sometimes take years to prepare. It takes time to construct each arbitration clause, gather Uber driver testaments, and to choose an appropriate settlement amount.
Join a class-action lawsuit against Uber today, and we’ll help you acquire justice through a settlement. Uber app drivers deserve benefits and insurance, just as all employees do.
Contact Los Angeles Uber Class Action Lawyer at Wilshire Law Firm
Beyond being completely unethical and illegal, Uber’s actions have breached the drivers’ agreement with them, and more importantly, YOUR trust. The company owes drivers money for withheld wages and damages. Drivers could be entitled to compensation.
The official complaint has alleged that Uber Technologies Inc. and its subsidiaries Rasier, LLC, and Rasier-CA, LLC. engaged in:
- Breach of Contract;
- Unjust Enrichment/Restitution;
- Fraud by Concealment;
- Violation of The Lanham Act;
- Unfair Competition in Violation of Cal. Bus. Prof. Code § 17200 Et Seq.;
- Independent Contractor Misclassification and Failure to Pay Wages
Our personal injury attorney is currently working diligently on behalf of Uber driver workers to recoup their losses. A class-action lawsuit has already been filed with the United States District Court. Call our office at (888) 653 1664, or fill out our online contact form as soon as possible to anonymously make your claim. You won’t lose your job! You will be a part of the class action to claim what is rightfully yours.