SACRAMENTO – Lawsuits filed against the two leading ride-share firms allege Lyft and Uber are endangering California residents during the coronavirus emergency by not providing employees with paid sick leave, which is required by state law.
“Faced with a choice of staying home without pay and risking losing their access to their livelihood, including housing, food, and other necessities of living, (Uber and Lyft) drivers across California will continue working and risk exposing hundreds of riders who enter their car on a weekly basis to this deadly disease,” the nearly identical lawsuits alleged, according to The Mercury News.
The Northern California Record reached out to Lyft for further comment on the lawsuits and their surrounding issues.
“Plaintiffs' lawyers are improperly trying to use this crisis to obtain completely unprecedented relief that the courts have repeatedly denied them in the past,” Lyft said in a statement issued to The Record.
“TNCs [Transportation Network Companies] have been designated as integral to transportation systems by governors and mayors around the U.S., including Gov. Newsom in California. Lyft is playing a critical role in delivering essential services during this pandemic by connecting people with vital services and goods. Attempting to force TNCs to adopt an employment model in the midst of this crisis would result in the widespread elimination of work for thousands and the immediate interruption of essential services for vulnerable populations. It will hurt drivers and at-risk communities at a time when they need our services most.”
The recent lawsuits come at a time when both companies already find themselves in a steeper battle, as a number of app-based ride-hailing and food-delivery services have long maintained that drivers are not employees and have continued to fight legal and political challenges of the recently implemented and highly controversial Assembly Bill 5, the state law that has reclassified contract workers as employees.