U.S. District Judge Edward M. Chen, from the Northern District of California, rejected Uber’s motion to dismiss a driver’s suit alleging he was misclassified as an independent contractor and shorted on wages under a new California law. It remains to be seen how many drivers in the putative class are covered by Uber’s arbitration agreement.
Judge Chen kept alive most of the driver’s claims in light of Assembly Bill 5, which was signed into law in September and was set to take effect Jan. 1, 2020, which codified the so-called ABC test that the California Supreme Court adopted in its April 2018 decision in Dynamex Operations West v. Superior Court of Los Angeles. The decision imposed a stricter three-pronged test on employers looking to classify workers as independent contractors, who have fewer workplace protections than employees.
The case is Colopy v. Uber Technologies Inc., case number 3:19-cv-06462, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
This blog is intended to provide information to the general public and to practitioners about developments that may impact Oregon class actions.
