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California sued Uber and Lyft car rental platforms for “misclassify” your drivers as contractors instead of as employees, which violates state law.
The lawsuit, to which the large municipalities of the state joined, seeks that the companies compensate the drivers and pay fines that could amount to hundreds of millions of dollars.
“California has basic rules with rights and protection for workers and their employers,” Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement. “We intend to make sure that Uber and Lyft play by the rules,” he added.
The lawsuit, which was joined by San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego, will test a law that went into effect in California this year.
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According to the authorities, the requested requirements will not prevent companies like Uber and Lyft from offering flexible work to drivers.
“There is no legal reason why Uber and Lyft cannot have a large number of employees who decide for themselves when and where they work, exactly as drivers do now,” said the city attorney for San FranciscoDennis Herrera in a statement.
The legislation referred to in the lawsuit states that, under certain conditions, independent contractors are classified as employees and are covered by the minimum wage standards and other expected benefits.
This would include drivers of Uber, Lyft, Postmates and other internet platforms that use apps to allow people with cars to provide transportation or deliver to users.
Uber and Lyft allocated 30 million each to organize a referendum that seeks to annul the law.
“At a time when California’s economy is in crisis with four million people out of work, we need to make it easier, not harder, for people to start earning quickly,” said Uber.
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“We are going to contest this action in court, as we push to raise the standard of independent work for drivers in California, even with guaranteed minimum earnings and new benefits,” he added.
For its part, Lyft did not address the demand directly but said it will work with state and municipal leaders to help the state’s “innovation economy” create good jobs.
Drivers have been divided between those who want the same safety as employees and those who want to keep the flexibility of choosing their schedules.
