1. Labor Commissioner's Office

FAQs on Lawsuits Against Uber and Lyft

1. I have been contacted by a representative of the Labor Commissioner’s Office asking for information about my experience as an Uber/Lyft driver, how do I proceed?

 Deputy Labor Commissioners routinely investigate wage theft and seek to interview employees who are victims of wage theft.  The Labor Commissioner has reached out to some drivers to learn about their experiences. If further information is needed from you, a Deputy Labor Commissioner will reach out to you.

2. How will the Labor Commissioner determine how much each driver gets paid in her lawsuits against Uber and Lyft? What time/fare calculations will be used in the lawsuit?

The amount drivers are owed will be subject to the determination of the Court.  The Labor Commissioner will seek Uber and Lyft’s records to prove what unpaid wages are owed to drivers.  The Labor Commissioner will seek unpaid wages to the fullest extent consistent with the law.   
It is important to note that the Labor Commissioner is the plaintiff in the lawsuit. The lawsuit is not a class action on behalf of drivers. The Labor Commissioner’s Office does not represent you and does not provide any legal advice or representation to you. However, the Labor Commissioner has authority under state law to recover unpaid wages and penalties owed to workers and the state. The Labor Commissioner will provide updates on the status of her lawsuit periodically.   

3. Will the Labor Commissioner settle for a much smaller number, even if drivers may be  owed tens of thousands in unpaid minimum wage and mileage?

 The case is still in the initial stages, and it is too early to determine the exact amount that drivers are owed or to comment on the possibility of settlement.  However, it is clear that when employers misclassify their workers, employees may be owed large sums of unpaid wages.  The Labor Commissioner will seek to recover unpaid wages to the fullest extent consistent with the law. 

4. Can drivers pursue their own lawsuits separate from the Labor Commissioner’s lawsuits? 

The Labor Commissioner’s Office cannot provide legal advice to drivers, and the determination whether a driver should pursue a separate lawsuit should be made in consultation with legal counsel. While Uber and Lyft drivers may continue to file wage claims with the Labor Commissioner’s Office, these claims will be dismissed as the Labor Commissioner is seeking to recover unpaid wages and civil penalties owed to all Uber and Lyft drivers through her lawsuit, which was filed in Alameda Superior Court.   

5. How far back do the Labor Commissioner’s lawsuits extend?

Claims for unpaid wages, liquidated damages and recovery of business expenses, where the right to these amounts is based on provisions of the California Labor Code, are governed  by a three-year statute of limitations.  Civil penalties are subject to a shorter, one-year statute of limitations.  As a the result of an emergency rule adopted in response to the COVID pandemic, there has been a limited suspension of the running of these statutes of limitations, so that the Labor Commissioner’s lawsuits against Uber and Lyft are deemed to have been filed, for purposes of these statutes of limitations, on April 6, 2020.  Thus, claims for unpaid wages, liquidated damages, and reimbursement of business expenses will run back to April 6, 2017.

6. How do the Labor Commissioner’s lawsuits affect people who worked in California during that period but now live out of state? 

The Labor Commissioner’s lawsuits seek to recover wages owed to all drivers who were California employees, regardless of where they live now.

7. Should drivers who have not filed wage claims file now?

A wage claim is not necessary for the Labor Commissioner to recover unpaid wages owed to you. Because the Labor Commissioner has chosen to file a lawsuit to recover unpaid wages owed to all workers, as long as these lawsuits are proceeding, new wage claims against Uber and Lyft will be dismissed.
The Labor Commissioner is the plaintiff in the lawsuit. The lawsuit is not a class action on behalf of drivers. The Labor Commissioner’s Office does not represent you and does not provide any legal advice or representation to you. However, the Labor Commissioner has authority under state law to recover unpaid wages and penalties owed to workers and the state. The Labor Commissioner will provide updates on the status of her lawsuit periodically through the following webpage: https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/Lawsuits-Uber-Lyft.html 

8. How does this lawsuit affect my individual claim? 

Individually filed wage claims will not proceed through regular wage claim process. Claims filed by Uber and Lyft drivers are dismissed by the Wage office as they cannot proceed in two venues for the same issues.

Approximately 5,000 individual wage claims against Uber and Lyft were dismissed in accordance with Labor Code section 98(a), which provides that the Labor Commissioner, in her discretion, may elect to file a lawsuit against an employer as an alternative to holding hearings on individual wage claims against that employer.

Proceeding by a single lawsuit, rather than thousands of administrative proceedings, helps to preserve state resources.

In addition, proceeding by a single lawsuit enables the Labor Commissioner to seek to recover amounts owed to all of Uber and Lyft’s drivers, not just those who filed claims.

Finally, the Labor Commissioner is able to seek recovery for a wider range of statutory violations than those asserted in the individual wage claims.

9. May the Labor Commissioner recover unpaid wages owed to drivers who have already settled a claim? 

It depends on the terms of the settlement, the issues and claims covered by the settlement, as well as the period of time that the settlement covers. Please consult with private counsel to determine if settlement precludes further recovery.

10. May the Labor Commissioner recover unpaid wages for drivers who settled thru arbitration or direct settlement through class counsel?

If you are a member of a class action settlement, you are represented by class counsel, and you should consult with class counsel to determine if that settlement precludes further recovery.   

11. What is the status of the state’s lawsuits alleging wage theft against Uber and Lyft for classifying drivers as independent contractors rather than employees.

The Labor Commissioner along with the state Attorney General, and city attorneys from Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego counties, and private litigants, have been pursuing enforcement actions to enforce the Labor Code protections for Uber and Lyft drivers for over four years. They are actively prosecuting the case and gathering evidence to prepare for trial.

12. Why and when did the state sue Uber and Lyft?

The Labor Commissioner Lilia García-Brower filed lawsuits against Uber and Lyft in August 2020, alleging the companies misclassified drivers as contractors rather than employees, which denied them protections such as sick leave, paid rest breaks, overtime and minimum wages.

13. Are there other lawsuits as well, and how are they related?

The lawsuits by the Labor Commissioner, Attorney General, and city attorneys have been combined into a coordinated action in San Francisco Superior Court. The coordinated action also includes several private lawsuits filed under PAGA.  The court combined the cases so that a single judge could decide all the issues in one place.

14. What is taking so long for this case to be resolved?

The coordinated lawsuit was stayed, or paused, during Uber and Lyft’s unsuccessful and lengthy attempt to argue on appeal that their arbitration agreements with individual drivers prevented the state from enforcing wage and hour laws. The California Court of Appeal rejected the companies’ arguments in 2023, and then the California Supreme Court declined review.  On Oct. 7, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case as well. This means that the state’s lawsuits can proceed. With the companies’ attempts to force these cases into arbitration over, the claims for work performed through mid-December of 2020 can move forward toward trial in superior court. 

15. If the state wins the litigation or settles, who is potentially eligible to receive compensation from this lawsuit?

The state seeks compensation for all drivers who worked for Uber and Lyft from 2016 through Dec. 15, 2020, the period covered by the lawsuits. It does not require you to file an individual claim.

16. Why aren’t drivers covered for the period after Dec. 15, 2020?

Drivers who worked for the Rideshare companies after Dec. 15, 2020 are not covered because of Proposition 22, a ballot measure backed by Uber and Lyft and approved by voters in the November 2020 election.

17. When can drivers expect to see any compensation from this litigation?

The case is likely to be set for trial soon, but ultimately how soon will depend on the court’s calendar and the completion of pre-trial discovery. In a case of this magnitude, it is reasonably likely that the result of a trial will be subject to appeals. Thus, while we are confident of ultimate success, when the drivers will obtain monetary recovery remains uncertain. If a reasonable settlement can be achieved, the timing of monetary recovery would be affected.

October 2024