Uber tells judge sick pay plan is huge success, drivers say no

Uber is allegedly violating an agreement to expand its financial assistance program to provide paid sick leave for drivers less than a week into its roll-out, the workers' attorney argued to a federal judge Wednesday.

Longtime rideshare company foe Shannon Liss-Riordan said the violations have prevented thousands of eligible drivers from accessing the aid, forcing them to choose between potentially exposing themselves to the virus by working and not making any money.

Uber attorney Theane Evangelis disputed the claim. She estimated more than 800 drivers have already obtained some benefits in the five days it's been expanded.

"It's been a huge success," she said. "Plaintiffs' counsel is just trying to create more issues over this." Verhines v. Uber Technologies Inc., 20-CV-01886 (N.D. Cal., filed March 17, 2020).

Overseeing three related lawsuits against Uber Technologies Inc., U.S. District Judge Edward Chen will have to decide whether to grant emergency public injunctive relief that would force the company to provide drivers paid sick leave by classifying them as full-fledged employees. They claim the company is endangering the public and its drivers by refusing to do so.

Uber agreed to boost its financial support for California drivers to settle one of the lawsuits in April.

During the Wednesday Zoom video hearing, Liss-Riordan accused the company of reneging on the agreement by making the program overly complicated to access.

Uber agreed to pay $360 to all drivers diagnosed with the disease, have symptoms, or believe they were exposed to the virus. It's also offering the assistance to drivers over 60 and those with pre-existing health conditions.

Unlike previous versions of the program and consistent with California law, drivers do not need to provide documentation to get the aid.

While the settlement remains under seal, Liss-Riordan, a partner at Massachusetts-based Lichten & Liss-Riordan, hinted the alleged violations are over drivers being unaware of the program and getting inconsistent answers on how to receive the aid. She claimed only 800 people have gotten financial assistance despite more than 34,000 being eligible.

"Those numbers speak for itself that it's not accessible," she said.

Because the expansion of California's sick pay program was so poor, plaintiffs will continue to seek a public injunction to force classification as employees in one of the related lawsuits, which was transferred from a federal court in Massachusetts, according to Liss-Riordan. Capriole v. Uber Technologies Inc., 20-CV-02211 (N.D. Cal., filed April 1, 2020).

"We reached the agreement in order to try to do what we could do to get immediate relief to drivers in California because they don't receive sick pay," she said. "I can't just agree in good conscience that what Uber is doing here will be adequate to resolve the situation in Massachusetts."

Evangelis replied California drivers were sufficiently notified. She said nearly 20,000 people have already begun the application process.

Uber will introduce the same paid sick leave program to Massachusetts drivers next week, the Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP attorney said.

Chen, who does not know the terms of the settlement, ordered the parties back into mediation before U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph Spero. He said he would rule on a request for preliminary injunction shortly.

In a first-of-its-kind lawsuit filed Monday in San Francisco Superior Court, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra sued Uber and Lyft for classifying drivers as independent contractors rather than employees, forcing taxpayers to foot the bill for hundreds of millions of dollars in social safety net obligations. It is expected to be a major test of AB5, which was intended by its authors to heighten labor protections for gig workers.

In a phone interview after the hearing, Liss-Riordan said she welcomes California stepping up to enforce the labor laws.. Those companies have long used arbitration agreements to evade a conclusive ruling on whether they are misclassifying employees, she claimed. Becerra will not be constrained by those contracts.

"Uber has come up with every way imaginable to postpone ever having to get a decision on classification on the merits," she said. "I don't know yet what tricks it has up its sleeve to further delay, but it's possible the attorney general may be able to get that ruling without having to fight the arbitration battles we have had to fight."

Amid a wave of technology companies slashing staff to save money during the coronavirus shutdowns, Uber also announced Wednesday it will cut 3,700 employees. Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi noted in a letter to staff the layoffs will come from community operations and recruiting, hinting at more cuts in the future.