Uber Drivers Win Preliminary Class-Action Status in Labor Case<br />The Federal District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina noted<br />that requirements for conditional certification for class-action status were “modest.” The plaintiffs needed only to show a reasonable basis for their claim that there were other employees similar to themselves.<br />A 2013 class-action suit filed in California suffered a setback in September when an appeals<br />court said most Uber drivers must go to arbitration rather than court to settle claims.<br />A federal court in North Carolina gave conditional certification on Wednesday to a class-action<br />lawsuit by several Uber drivers that was brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act.<br />The company said in a statement that it was “disappointed with this decision, particularly<br />because a Federal District Court recently denied conditional certification in another case”; that ruling was handed down last month in Florida.<br />“The ruling today is going to allow drivers across the country to band together to challenge<br />Uber’s misclassification of them,” said Paul B. Maslo, a lawyer for the plaintiffs.
