Late last night, a settlement was announced in two class action lawsuits filed by Uber drivers in California and Massachusetts. The company agreed to pay workers up to $100 million to settle their claims of nonpayment of wages. It also agreed to address certain of the workers’ core complaints with the company: it will revise its policy on standardless deactivation of drivers and its ban on tipping. Finally, the company will agree to periodic negotiations with elected driver representatives.

Following is a statement from Christine Owens, Executive Director, National Employment Law Project:

“This is an important win for the brave Uber drivers in California and Massachusetts who stood up in the face of low wages and arbitrary firings by Uber. The $100 million settlement will put up to $8,000 back in the pockets of individual drivers. But more importantly, Uber drivers have forced the company to address some of their core concerns about arbitrary firings and the company’s no-tipping rules, and to sit down and negotiate with them.

“As is typical in a settlement, not all of the issues in the case were resolved. In particular, the settlement does not address the key issue of misclassification of the workers as independent contractors. This issue is left to other cases and claims in other courts around the country, including some pending against Uber and other companies in the on-demand economy.

“In light of this settlement and the agreement to negotiate with its drivers, NELP calls on Uber to treat its drivers as employees, paying its fair share of payroll taxes and workers’ compensation insurance and providing other work protections that benefit all of society.”

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