Joseph Dinofa filed one such lawsuit against Uber in Philadelphia, and court documents filed on his behalf highlight some of the issues drivers say they came up against, specifically the issue of independent contractors versus employees.The line between independent contractor and employee is often blurry, but the courts tend to rely on a few factors, including that an independent contractor sets his or her fees and has a great deal of discretion in carrying out job duties. Dinofa’s lawsuit, however, claims Uber had control over most aspects of his job.
“Uber also unilaterally sets the fares for all rides and drivers are required to charge the cost determined solely by Uber,” the lawsuit alleges. “In addition, all drivers for Uber must maintain an average customer star evaluation of at least 4.5 out of a possible 5 stars…If a driver fails to maintain an average customer rating of 4.5, Uber will deactivate his or her ability to use the application to pick up customers, an action tantamount to terminating the driver ‘at will,’ a hallmark of an employee-employer relationship.”
Independent contractors are not guaranteed minimum wage or overtime, nor are they given rest and meal break protections. Despite not having to pay minimum amounts to its drivers, Uber also allegedly did not forward gratuities to its drivers and instructed drivers to refuse the cash gratuity if offered.
READ MORE CALIFORNIA LABOR LAW LEGAL NEWS
Dinofa’s claims are similar to drivers across the United States - including California - in alleging drivers were classed as independent contractors but treated like employees, and were denied tips, minimum wage, overtime and proper breaks.
Lyft, another ride-sharing company, recently settled a similar class-action lawsuit with its drivers. That settlement will see Lyft rewrite its driver terms and conditions to more accurately reflect that the drivers are independent contractors.
The lawsuit is Dinofa v. Uber Technologies, case number 2:15-cv-06121, in US District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
READER COMMENTS
Richard Car
on
I do believe 100% that Uber will be able to prevail in the lawsuit and continue in the future to classify its drivers as independent contractors. The lawsuit will settle in the same way as the Lyft lawsuit settled.
Does this mean the Uber driver who collected unemployment insurance benefits will have to pay EDD back?
Billy JO Bob
on
I was nervous because I knew this meant I was driving whether I liked it or not since I had a pretty steep Lease Payment. The Money factor was pretty high; and, they overcharged me for the vehicle but hey I had a way to go to work and earn that $1,000 a week income that UBER CLAIMS you can make.
Since October I have put over 13,000 miles on my car. I use my car PRIMARILY for the purposes of UBER/LYFT.
Bear in mind my lease only gives me 12,000 miles per year; and, is a three (3) year lease.
The new lease has actually helped me to improve my credit score; and, I was able to apply for; and, get approved for a Chevron gasoline card; and, two new credit cards I previously didn't have. However let's get into the nitty grity of the numbers.
For the record I was a Business/ Accounting major in college.
I just completed a profit/loss statement for the last quarter of 2015; and, for January of 2016. I have not yet had a month where I was actually profitable to a point where it matched the hyper inflated advertising UBER proclaims its drivers will make.
Because I have two school age children that I must take to school before 8am; and, pick up by 3pm I cannot work the surge shift during the week in the morning; or, early evening in Los Angeles. This leaves me the option of working graveyard throughout the week; and, weekends.
Admittedly because I keep Sabbath I choose not to work Friday nights; however, if I have the lease payment due; and, don't have the cash I grit my teeth; work Friday night; and, hate every minute of it. Typically I work Thursday night (8pm-5am); Saturday night (6pm-5am); and Sunday night (6pm-5am).
There have been a few weeks where I work Monday-Wednesday as well from about 8pm-5am. When I do I can get close to $700-$800. That's a LOT of time to spend stuck in your car.
Working nights is a real strain on a marriage; and, is hell on your eyes when the sun comes up. I feel like a vampire running for the safety of the house so I can sleep off the 9-12 hour shift I just worked in the city of LOST souls.
Between my lease payment; gasoline; insurance costs; cellular bills; oil changes; miscellaneous deductible business expenses; and, a new tire I have actually lost between $50-$208 each month. Yep you read that correctly I have LOST money driving for UBER/LYFT. (Notice I haven't calculated into in my meals or coffee; which is significant).
Based on the numbers I need to earn at least $1,600 a month just to break even. If I want to earn MORE then my expenses will be MORE mostly Gasoline.
I did manage to actually NET a profit of $209 in November 2015; however that was because my auto insurance company didn't actually draft my insurance until December. Had it drafted in November I would have netted a whopping $68. November was the ONLY profitable month I have had (and I went on vacation for 10 days).
What most people DON'T think about it all the additional miles you rack up on your car to get BACK to an area where you can actually pick up passengers. In LOS Angeles that can be pretty significant. When you pick up a passenger in Hollywood; and, they want to go home to Burbank; Pasadena; Sylmar; San Fernando; Van Nuys; Encino; Tarzana; or, Canoga Park you have to jam back to Hollywood or Downtown Los Angeles before 2AM to get the surge pricing; and, other passengers. It helps you made decent money but seriously burns up the mileage on your car.
For those in a lease that can be BAD news when it comes time to turn in your car. Based upon current assumptions; and, if I continue to drive at the mileage rate I have been; and, the same number of days a week I'm looking at a SERIOUS LOSS when it comes time to turn in my leased vehicle.
Conservatively at .15 a mile overage if I maintain everything being equal I will be looking at approximately 72,000 miles in overage. Folks that's $10,800 in overage.
If I consider depreciation; and, overage I'm not making money in the long run with UBER/LYFT I'm actually LOSING MONEY.
Nothing grinds me more than a customer who thinks because they just paid $4.00 for me to drive them 2 miles that I'm "making bank." Stupid.
For those of you thinking about purchasing or leasing a new; or, used car to drive for UBER/LYFT here's my advice. DON'T. There are now over 18,000 rideshare drives in LOS ANGELES alone. There is an over saturation of drivers in most markets competing for riders which means we all make less.
You would be better off working at McDonald's; or, some other minimum wage job; and, riding the bus to work. SERIOUSLY! You will take home more money!
When I came on board UBER was only keeping 20% of fares; now they keep 25% AND if you calculate in the "Safe Rider Fee" they charge the customer and DON'T give you it's more like 30-35% they are keeping. UBER claims to be a software company. Well if that's the case I paid $625 on average for November and December to UBER for the right to use their software to earn an income.
Folks that's the most expensive damn software I've ever heard of. Steve Jobs would resurrect from the dead with a raging hard-on from excitement if he had come up with a way to generate that much revenue off APPLE customers.
For those of you looking for work don't believe the UBER Hype it's a trap if you lease a car to do it. They do have a new flexible lease program that I WISH I had been able to take advantage of because had I done so I'd be paying the $300 fee to break my lease and turn in my car.
If you don't believe me then by all means dive right in. Embrace it; don't say you weren't warned though when you figure out that sucking sound if your money going out of your pockets into everybody else but yours. For the first time in my life I know what that stupid rat on the wheel feels like; and, I hate it.
For those of you wondering my name ins't Billy Jo Bob; I changed it because I'm worried UBER will deactivate my driver account for what I posted; and, I won't be able to make the ridiculous payment on my new car. That would REALLY suck.
Signed Sleepless in Los Angeles
Xiaowei Liu
on
as an mathematician, I calculated the net incomes of a Uber driver, their net wage (excluding all costs, gas, insurance, car depreciation, etc) is very poor ($5-$8/hour).
the Uber said the driver is independent contractor, but the driver has no right to determine the allocation of the rider fees, it is controlled by Uber. IT IS NOT FAIRE!
I did a lot of researches and decided to quit shortly
Thanks