Veritas News Network Uber files notice of appeal in Dec. 9 court decision

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Uber files notice of appeal in Dec. 9 court decision

By: The VNN Team // Arbitration

Uber has already filed an appeal following the Dec. 9 court ruling in the matter of O’Connor v. Uber Technologies, Inc.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued a 32-page order granting in part and denying in part the Plaintiff employees’ Supplemental Motion for Class Certification.

The O’Connor case was brought under California law ostensibly on behalf of 160,000 California Uber drivers who have driven for the company since August 2009. The plaintiffs contended that they were misclassified as independent contractors and entitled to recover under the California Labor Code as a result. Among their claims was one that they should have been given “tips” allegedly received by the company through its fee structure with passengers.

The court ruled that Uber’s arbitration agreements with Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) waivers are unenforceable as a matter of public policy. The Order illustrates some of the pitfalls surrounding the creation of enforceable arbitration agreements with representative action waivers in California. The decision would allow the plaintiffs to continue with a class action.

“This Court has already rejected this agreement and found that a PAGA waiver is unenforceable regardless of whether the plaintiff brings or even can bring a PAGA claim,” the decision states.

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP filed the appeal on behalf of Uber challenging the court’s ruling that Uber’s 2014 and 2015 arbitration agreements “as a whole [are] unenforceable.”

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