In every state but California, probably not. Or at the least, you can sue, but your odds of success are virtually nil. All of the major rideshare services contend that their drivers are independent contractors, not employees and that the rideshare companies—Uber, Lyft, and Sidecar included—are not liable for the negligence of their drivers. In court, at least, the ridesharing companies are winning that battle. Further, the National Labor Relations Board in May 2019 released a legal opinion that rideshare drivers are independent contractors, not employees of the rideshare company.
Other federal decisions have supported that view. As an independent contractor, any driver actions that go beyond the scope of the service offered by Uber or any other rideshare services, is not the responsibility of the rideshare service. Driving negligently and getting into an accident falls into that “not the responsibility of the rideshare service” category.
You can collect on the rideshare service’s insurance, or from the driver’s insurance, but likely only if the driver has a commercial use rider on his personal liability coverage. If not, you might have difficulty collecting damages.
In addition to that, by downloading the app for the major rideshare services, you are agreeing to the legal language included, which states that installing the app means you agree to arbitration of any claims against the rideshare service that you might have. Many courts have upheld and enforced that arbitration requirement.
California is different due to AB5, a law that was passed last year that makes it extremely difficult to classify workers as independent contractors. Nearly three dozen bills proposing various changes to AB5 have been introduced since the law went into effect on Jan. 1, 2020, with some going so far as to propose the law’s repeal. Uber is redesigning its app for its California drivers to give them more flexibility on accepting rides in hopes of continuing to classify drivers as independent contractors.
Despite the classification of rideshare drivers as independent contractors, you still may have opportunities to recover compensation when an Uber driver injures you. Call us today to discuss your case.
