Complaint that Uber fired drivers based on ratings is dismissed

A federal judge dismissed on Wednesday a complaint by a proposed class of Uber drivers, who alleged the company racially discriminated against them by basing firing decisions on customer ratings.

U.S District Judge Vince Chhabria in San Francisco said while it was easy to imagine "a plaintiff successfully stating a disparate impact claim for a policy of terminating drivers solely on the basis of customer ratings without accounting for likely racial bias," the complaint before him was too "sparse and poorly drafted."

Chhabria allowed the plaintiffs to amend their complaint. Liu v. Uber, 3:20-cv-07499-VC (N.D. Cal., filed Oct. 26, 2020).

Attorneys at Littler Mendelson PC represent Uber, and said in their motion to dismiss that the principal plaintiff did not provide enough facts to back up his claims. "What plaintiff fails to offer, however, are facts establishing that plaintiff -- let alone all 'minority' drivers -- were rated lower than non-'minority' drivers," Uber's counsel wrote. "Plaintiff fails to allege sufficient factual allegations to state a plausible claim that he and all other drivers were misclassified as independent contractors such that he has standing to bring a Title VII claim."

Attorneys from Lichten & Liss-Riordan PC, a Boston-based firm known for filing actions against Uber on behalf of drivers, filed the Title VII lawsuit in October. According to the drivers' complaint, the lead plaintiff in the case is Asian and from Hawaii, and speaks with a slight accent. While working as a driver for Uber, Liu said he noticed customers frequently canceled their rides with him once they saw his picture, while others would ask where he was from in an unfriendly manner.

Liu alleged racial bias led customers to give him lower ratings on the Uber app, and said Uber eventually deactivated his account as a result. Uber deactivates driver accounts when their average rating in the five-star system falls below 4.6.

Liu also suggested Uber was aware of frequent customer bias against racial minorities, since "in the past, before it allowed tipping on the app, Uber tried to justify its refusal to add a method for passengers to tip drivers through the app based upon its assertion that passengers discriminate against racial minorities."

-- Jessica Mach