Hammer blow for Uber as Canada’s Supreme court dismisses appeal paving the way for class-action suit

Canada’s Supreme Court has ruled in favour of an UberEats driver who is calling for Uber Technologies Inc. to recognise drivers as company employees.

David Heller, who works as a delivery driver on the UberEats platform, had filed a class action suit, which was subsequently challenged by Uber.

The suit aims to secure a minimum wage, holiday pay and other benefits like overtime pay as an employee would be entitled to, instead of drivers being classified as independent contractors as they are now.

Uber’s “partner” contract allows arbitration, but not class-action lawsuits, making it very difficult due to financial commitments for a single driver to make a claim. A class action lawsuit will mean that multiple drivers can now action a lawsuit together.

As first reported by Reuters, Canada's 8-1 Supreme Court ruling dismisses Uber’s appeal to an Ontario high court ruling that said the Uber's arbitration clause violates provincial labor rules and is "invalid and unenforceable".

More to follow...

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