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    Jay HathawayJay Hathaway
    9/02/15 12:02pm

    I can only hear “California Uber lawsuit” in the voice of Jello Biafra. Does anyone else have this problem?

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      gigglestickierJay Hathaway
      9/02/15 12:08pm

      No. And now it will be in my head all day. Yay!

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      2DollarzJay Hathaway
      9/02/15 12:08pm

      The Hathaway house must have been an interesting place

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    cepalgJay Hathaway
    9/02/15 12:01pm

    “Your honor, my client would like to move to dismiss this class-action lawsuit on the grounds that the plaintiffs are not all literally the same person.”

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      Governor McCheesecepalg
      9/02/15 12:34pm

      Their argument that there is no “typical” driver because they were trained differently only lends further support to the notion that Uber is a fly-by-night ramshackle operation that doesn’t give a shit about safety protocols. There should be a “typical” driver, and they should be trained the same way.

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      dothedewcepalg
      9/02/15 12:37pm

      Pretty much. But the judge wasn’t having it:

      As other courts weighing certification of employment misclassification claims have recognized, however, there is inherent tension between this argument and Uber’s position on the merits: on one hand, Uber argues that it has properly classified every single driver as an independent contractor; on the other, Uber argues that individual issues with respect to each driver’s “unique” relationship with Uber so predominate that this Court (unlike, apparently, Uber itself) cannot make a classwide determination of its drivers’ proper job classification.

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    NicoJay Hathaway
    9/02/15 12:24pm

    I’m torn... they knew they weren’t employees when they signed up, but “why did you let me f*ck you over?” isn’t a great argument against taking advantage of people who are essentially employees.

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      melliemNico
      9/02/15 12:53pm

      It’s really terrible that many employees are not aware of their rights and/or would rather keep their jobs then complain about the conditions and risk getting fired. My firm was counsel on a class action where a large chunk of their employees worked every single day for two years, 12+ hour days, no lunch breaks, no paid overtime. They didn’t think they were entitled to any of it.

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      dothedewNico
      9/02/15 12:56pm

      The fact that they knew what they were getting into (to the extent they actually understood the legal significance of the difference between employees and independent contractors) has no bearing on whether Uber properly classified them. I don’t believe you can waive your rights under the types of laws and Uber cannot get a waiver of its obligations under labor law.

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    KwisatzHaderachJay Hathaway
    9/02/15 11:58am

    We’re all for the sharing economy until y’all start wanting us to share dem profits.

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      Scrooge McHippopotamusKwisatzHaderach
      9/02/15 9:17pm

      I know a lot of people who drive with Uber and have thought of doing it myself. You can buy a new car, drive a handful of times a month and have that cover the cost of car payment, insurance, gas, etc. I also have a few friends that now do it as a full time job and no one seems to have any complaints.

      I think the big issue here is that it seems the people suing somehow do not know the difference between filling out a 1099 and a W2. Uber drivers ARE private contractors. You make your own hours, work when you want, and use your personal vehicle (not that that’s a definition of being a private contractor). Because of this, you need to set aside the taxes that the government collects (like you see coming out of your paycheck as an employee under a W2). You also can then write off mileage, gas, maintenance and any costs incurred with you performing your job as a private contractor. It basically looks like the people suing did not know that they can personally write off all those expenses against their profits. Which, ultimately, isn’t Uber’s fault.

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    Gaying Mantis TobogganJay Hathaway
    9/02/15 3:34pm

    I am ever so hopeful that Uber as a word is transformed to mean everything from scam to ravish. One has to walk the line of making light of ravish culture and I want to thank Another Period for giving me the words to talk about it without having to say huge four letter trigger word.

    I don’t actively support the demise of corporations in general, but like people, there are some bad ones and if Uber isn’t a bad one they’re doing a really bad job at portraying that to the world. They need to implode the negative narratives through actual measurable good works. Every corporation has to grow up and support the community or end up facing countless lawsuits like tobacco. I can see why some corps get lazy, greedy and mean once they’re big and established pseudo monopolies but Uber is going ahead and doing it before the actual physical reality of such a monopoly exists. So let’s hope social media can pressure them into behaving better, have them show the world they can be good beyond ever increasing valuation.

    “That’s not a person you want to go home with, he’ll most likely uber you.”

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      sour duckJay Hathaway
      9/02/15 12:35pm

      Uber drivers are beginning to do the same thing in MA (for the better IMO). Interestingly enough, Uber has come out in support of increased protections of its drivers in Massachusetts. Looks like they are trying to get ahead of the shit storm. I wonder why California didn’t do the same thing?

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        Space1993Jay Hathaway
        9/02/15 12:56pm

        Fuck these guys. Every third car on the street in San Francisco is an Uber driver from Walnut Creek or parts East. They’ve made it so everyone in the city has a car now, GREAT! The streets are choked, people are getting hit by cars, and everyone’s glued to the stupid GPS - which takes them down the absolutely most crowded streets. I hope Uber implodes.

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          Peter MoskowitzJay Hathaway
          9/02/15 12:11pm

          *broom broom

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