I don’t think it should be up to 12 ‘random’ people to settle the longstanding issue of “are TNC drivers employees or contractors?”
That is labor law and … checks online … is regulated by the National Labor Relations Act (or for the public sector labor, regulated by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978).
This is the wrong venue, IMO, and I think the judge is putting too much on the plate of the jurors to have to comprehend labor and contract law on a ‘simple’ injury case.
Of course I do find it funny that the suit against Uber states “Uber…accused of negligence in the training…of Issa.” So Uber should have trained Issa to make sure they knew not to smash into a parked car? How was that not covered when they got their license??
Some weeks ago I posted an article in an Uber story that showed a government official in California was purposely hiding vehicle claim data. What sort of procedures do they have for vetting contractors and eliminating them as contractors for poor performance? Certainly Uber was lacking in vetting contractors for criminal histories.
In my industry sect, it took the federal government to rid vicarious liability for us and that particular statute has been challenged dozens of times in 15 years usually by trial by judge. It is big money for trial attorneys were it to be overturned. Both conservative and liberal courtrooms have upheld it.
I would think any verdict automatically goes to appeal.
I agree 100% with the auto-appeal once a decision is rendered, as well as TNC’s lacking in vetting for prior criminal activity. But being sued for improper training? That seems like a stretch presuming the driver is licensed by the state…that should be all the training they need. I’ll have to search for that CA story – I missed it, but I’m sure I can find it.
It is a stretch if you are inclined to believe that TNC’s are just your average “Joe” earning an extra buck. Taxi companies are regulated (to varying degrees depending on State/City, etc.); Uber is a software company (their words) with little regulation and it shows.
Thanks for the link! I’d give you an upvote but I refrain from that for semi-obvious reasons :). It’s a pretty long article so I’ll reply (if applicable) after I’ve had a chance to read it all. Thanks again!!
The vicarious liability battle continues…
I don’t think it should be up to 12 ‘random’ people to settle the longstanding issue of “are TNC drivers employees or contractors?”
That is labor law and … checks online … is regulated by the National Labor Relations Act (or for the public sector labor, regulated by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978).
This is the wrong venue, IMO, and I think the judge is putting too much on the plate of the jurors to have to comprehend labor and contract law on a ‘simple’ injury case.
Of course I do find it funny that the suit against Uber states “Uber…accused of negligence in the training…of Issa.” So Uber should have trained Issa to make sure they knew not to smash into a parked car? How was that not covered when they got their license??
Some weeks ago I posted an article in an Uber story that showed a government official in California was purposely hiding vehicle claim data. What sort of procedures do they have for vetting contractors and eliminating them as contractors for poor performance? Certainly Uber was lacking in vetting contractors for criminal histories.
In my industry sect, it took the federal government to rid vicarious liability for us and that particular statute has been challenged dozens of times in 15 years usually by trial by judge. It is big money for trial attorneys were it to be overturned. Both conservative and liberal courtrooms have upheld it.
I would think any verdict automatically goes to appeal.
I agree 100% with the auto-appeal once a decision is rendered, as well as TNC’s lacking in vetting for prior criminal activity. But being sued for improper training? That seems like a stretch presuming the driver is licensed by the state…that should be all the training they need. I’ll have to search for that CA story – I missed it, but I’m sure I can find it.
It is a stretch if you are inclined to believe that TNC’s are just your average “Joe” earning an extra buck. Taxi companies are regulated (to varying degrees depending on State/City, etc.); Uber is a software company (their words) with little regulation and it shows.
Found it.
https://sfpublicpress.org/news/2020-01/california-agency-is-hiding-uber-and-lyft-accident-reports
Thanks for the link! I’d give you an upvote but I refrain from that for semi-obvious reasons :). It’s a pretty long article so I’ll reply (if applicable) after I’ve had a chance to read it all. Thanks again!!