Lyft to pay $272.5 million to settle California driver misclassification claims
Lyft has agreed to pay $272.5 million to settle claims from California and three cities that it misclassified drivers as independent contractors. The deal needs court approval; Lyft maintains its classification was lawful.
.jpg?trim=0,0,0,0&width=1200&height=800&crop=1200:800)
1 / 2
The story, neutrally told
Lyft has agreed to pay $272.5 million to settle claims that it wrongly classified California drivers as independent contractors rather than employees. The IndependentLC “Lyft has agreed to pay $272.5 million to settle claims from California and three of its largest cities that the company mislabeled drivers as independent contractors rather than em” Read at The Independent ↗ TechCrunchN “Lyft has agreed to pay $272.5 million to settle a lawsuit accusing the ride-hailing company of violating California law by misclassifying drivers as independent contractors, instead of employees.” Read at TechCrunch ↗ The claims came from the state and from Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego, and were merged with litigation brought for thousands of drivers; the cases were coordinated in San Francisco Superior Court in September 2021. The IndependentLC “The action was merged with litigation brought for thousands of drivers.” Read at The Independent ↗ TechCrunchN “The cases were coordinated in San Francisco Superior Court in September 2021.” Read at TechCrunch ↗ The settlement covers alleged violations from April 6, 2016 to December 15, 2020 and is subject to court approval. TechCrunchN “The settlement, which still must be approved by a judge, covers alleged violations from April 6, 2016 to December 15, 2020” Read at TechCrunch ↗ The IndependentLC “Subject to court approval, the agreement spans alleged violations committed from April 2016 through December 2020.” Read at The Independent ↗
TechCrunch reports the underlying suit was filed by the California Labor Commissioner's Office in August 2020 and alleged drivers were denied minimum wage, overtime, paid sick leave and timely wage payments. The Independent says California sued in 2021 alongside the three cities. TechCrunchN “The settlement stems from a lawsuit filed by the California Labor Commissioner’s Office in August 2020”“denied minimum wage and overtime as well as other benefits and protections provided to employees, including paid sick leave and timely wage payments.” Read at TechCrunch ↗ The IndependentLC “California filed suit against Lyft in 2021 alongside Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego.” Read at The Independent ↗ The state Labor Commissioner's Office called it the largest wage theft settlement in California history, according to The Independent. The IndependentLC “According to the state Labor Commissioner's Office, the agreement represents the largest wage theft settlement in California history.” Read at The Independent ↗ Lyft said drivers were properly classified under the law and that it was glad to put the case behind it; in a regulatory filing it said the deal avoids the costs and distraction of protracted litigation. The IndependentLC “Lyft maintained that drivers were properly classified under the law, noting "we're glad to put this case behind us.”” Read at The Independent ↗ TechCrunchN “avoid the “costs and distraction of protracted litigation and enable management to maintain its focus on executing its business objectives.”” Read at TechCrunch ↗
Labor Commissioner Lilia García-Brower said the settlement is about workers who spoke up, and that her office will forgo its share of the money and direct it to drivers who filed wage claims. TechCrunchN “the LCO will forgo its share of the settlement and direct those funds to drivers who filed wage claims.” Read at TechCrunch ↗ Context: California's 2019 law AB 5 required gig companies to treat workers as employees, but voters passed Proposition 22 in 2020, so app-based drivers are now classified as contractors. Uber still faces a similar Labor Commissioner's Office lawsuit, and in 2023 Lyft and Uber jointly agreed to pay $328 million over New York attorney general claims. TechCrunchN “Today, drivers for app-based transportation services like Lyft and Uber are classified as contractors after voters passed ballot measure Proposition 22 in 2020.”“Uber still faces an LCO lawsuit that makes similar allegations.” Read at TechCrunch ↗ The IndependentLC “In 2023, Lyft and Uber jointly agreed to pay $328 million to resolve parallel claims brought by New York's attorney general.” Read at The Independent ↗
Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on.
Left1 outlet
- Framing
- Frames the deal as a 'massive wage theft settlement' and places it in the long gig-economy fight over misclassification.
- Emphasis
- Size of the payout, the state's 'largest wage theft settlement' description, Lyft's denial, and the 2023 $328 million New York deal.
- Leaves out or plays down
- Proposition 22, AB 5, and the Labor Commissioner's plan to forgo its share.
- Charged language
- “massive wage theft settlement”“mislabeled”
- For example
-
“Lyft to pay hundreds of millions to California drivers in massive wage theft settlement” — The Independent
Centre1 outlet
- Framing
- Explains the settlement as the end of a legacy lawsuit, set against the legal background of AB 5 and Proposition 22.
- Emphasis
- Legal history, Lyft's regulatory filing, the Labor Commissioner's statement, and that Uber still faces a similar suit.
- Leaves out or plays down
- Does not carry Lyft's statement that drivers were properly classified, nor the 'largest wage theft settlement' description or the New York deal.
- For example
-
“This settlement clears up a lingering lawsuit from 2020 when that was still an unanswered issue.” — TechCrunch
Right0 outlets
No right outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
What every side reports
- Lyft agreed to pay $272.5 million.
- The settlement covers alleged violations from April 2016 to December 2020 and needs court approval.
- Claims came from California and the cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego.
Where accounts differ
-
When the state's suit was filed
- Left
- The Independent says California filed suit in 2021 alongside the three cities.
- Centre
- TechCrunch says the Labor Commissioner's Office sued in August 2020, with cases coordinated in September 2021.
Lyft organisation
Says drivers were properly classified under the law, and that settling avoids costly, distracting litigation.
“Lyft maintained that drivers were properly classified under the law, noting "we're glad to put this case behind us.”” — The Independent
“avoid the “costs and distraction of protracted litigation” — TechCrunch
Left1 article
-
Lyft to pay hundreds of millions to California drivers in massive wage theft settlement
Critical Short report presenting the deal as a wage theft settlement, with Lyft's denial included.
Centre1 article
-
Lyft is paying $272.5M to settle lawsuit over how it classified drivers
Neutral Explanatory report tying the settlement to California's AB 5 and Proposition 22 history.
Right0 articles
No coverage yet.
- 1 Oct 19:48 First The IndependentLC Lyft to pay hundreds of millions to California drivers in massive wage theft settlement
- 1 Oct 22:57 +3h 9m TechCrunchN Lyft is paying $272.5M to settle lawsuit over how it classified drivers
Times are when each article was published, or when we first saw it if the outlet gave no time.