California Appeals Court Says Uber, Lyft Drivers are Employees, Not Contractors
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California appeals court says Uber, Lyft drivers are employees, not contractors:
A California appeals court on Thursday upheld a state order requiring Uber and Lyft to treat their California drivers as employees instead of independent contractors. The ruling comes less than two weeks before California voters will be asked to exempt the ride-hailing giants from the state's ground-breaking gig economy law.
The decision won't have any immediate impact because it doesn't take effect for at least 30 days, well after the November 3 vote on Proposition 22.
Uber and Lyft had appealed an August preliminary injunction by a San Francisco judge. But the appellate ruling found "no legal error" and allowed it to stand.
"We conclude that the injunction was properly issued in accordance with enduring principles of equity," the 74-page ruling said. "It is broad in scope, no doubt, but so too is the scale of the alleged violations."
Uber and Lyft issued statements noting that the ruling doesn't take immediate affect(sic) and urging voters to approve Prop. 22. Lyft also said it is considering appealing to the California Supreme Court.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and the city attorneys of Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco had sued Uber under a new California law that says companies can only classify workers as contractors if they perform work "outside the usual course" of their business. Becerra praised the court's decision.
Read more of this story at SoylentNews.