With each passing year, Uber becomes less of an anti-establishment protest against traditional taxi services and more of an established corporation. Well, if one judges by the size of the lawsuits, anyway.
The latest involves an $84-million settlement reached with 385,000 Uber drivers alleging they should be compensated as full-time employees rather than 1099-filing freelancers. Another $16 million will be levied if Uber goes public and its average valuation increases by one and a half times since it last raised funds (Uber is valued at more than $62 billion). Drivers have been upset at being banned without explanation, docked for not accepting ride requests, and other myriad details that Uber attempts to strong-arm on a network of for-hire drivers, most of which aren’t licensed or policed by any city government. The settlement only pays drivers in California, Uber’s startup home, and Massachusetts. These drivers, as well as all Uber drivers worldwide, will still be classified as contractors, which exempts Uber from paying benefits, taxes, minimum wage, unemployment, and all the other associated costs of normal payroll. “That said, as Uber has grown?over 450,000 drivers use the app each month here in the U.S.?we haven?t always done a good job working with drivers,” wrote CEO Travis Kalanick on Uber’s website. “For example, we don?t have a policy explaining when and how we bar drivers from using the app, or a process to appeal these decis...