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As it prepares to go public, Uber is facing a serious delay: A clbad action lawsuit was filed in Australia on behalf of some 6,000 taxi and rental car drivers and license said Friday Reuters.
The complaint was filed Friday at the Supreme Court of Victoria by Maurice Blackburn, a law firm specializing in personal injury and compensation. She is seeking redress on behalf of thousands of taxi drivers and rental cars and operators who believe they have lost their income or the value of their license drop as a result of what she calls "Uber's unlawful conduct ".
The company is still registering new online participants, including those licensed to operate in four states: Victoria, Western Australia, New South Wales and Queensland, between a series of dates from 2014 to 2017.
The argument behind this case is that Uber started operating illegally in the four states in 2014, offering its UberX service that used vehicles and drivers without "appropriate licenses, accreditations, and authorizations ", he said, resulting in a drop in the income and the value of the applicants' license in the clbad action.
State laws were subsequently amended to legally legalize the cases, so the case focuses on the previous conduct of Uber's affairs, with Maurice Blackburn alleging that he exercised his activities illegally in each of the states for a while – hence the variable dates of registration of participants. .
In a press release, the firm writes that the case has been going on for about 18 months, also noting that the "No Victory, No Honorary" clbad action lawsuit is underwritten by "one of the largest funders in the world for litigation, Harbor ".
"Do not get me wrong, it will be a historical case concerning Uber's alleged illegal operations in Australia and the devastating impact it has had on the life of hardworking and law-abiding citizens here, "said Maurice Blackburn Clbad Action Officer Andrew Watson in a statement.
"It's not acceptable that a company stands above the law and operates illegally to the detriment of others. We have a strong record, a strong team and strong support from thousands of drivers, operators and licensees across the country, "he added.
The company believes it is more likely to get compensation for the plaintiffs by suing Uber, rather than the government for not enforcing the relevant regulations – highlighting, for example, Uber's use of the controversial "Greyball" software. Which she describes as a "devious program".
In 2017, the New York Times reported that Uber was using this software to identify members of code enforcement authorities or city authorities who were trying to collect data on this service providing services. in areas where it was prohibited, and blocked their access to prevent them from enforcing local rules.
"Uber sells the idea that he does things differently, but in reality and as we claim, it meant operating illegally, using sneaky programs like" Greyball. "All of this resulted in losses and losses. considerable damage to taxi drivers and car rental companies, operators and law-abiding licensees, "said Maurice Blackburn senior partner, Elizabeth O'Shea, in another voucher.
"Uber came in and exploited people by breaking the rules. It was his conduct that caused horrible losses for our group members. For these reasons, we are targeting Uber, a multi-billion dollar company, and its badociated entities, to provide redress to those affected. "
The company's PR also includes a statement from the lead plaintiff, Nick Andrianakis, taxi driver, operator and licensee from Brunswick, Melbourne, describing the impact of "the loss of a work of your life".
We asked Uber to comment on the clbad action.
In a statement to Reuters, the company denied its illegal operation, telling the news agency: "Uber denies this allegation and, if a claim is served, it will be vigorously defended."
The law firm told the news agency thatThe amount of damages sought could reach "hundreds of millions of dollars," while pointing out that any compensation would be determined in the course of the case or through settlement negotiations.
Uber's statement to Reuters implies that it does not intend to seek a settlement to remove this latest legal puzzle, but it did so two months ago in the case of a clbad action American focus on the pay and benefits of the driver.
In that case, Uber agreed to pay $ 20 million to settle a lawsuit filed six years ago, in which Uber said his drivers were contractors to avoid paying them a minimum wage and offering them benefits.
Although $ 20 million is well below what Uber could have been, an appellate court would not have overturned a previous decision to grant clbad action status to hundreds of thousands of drivers in California and the United States. Mbadachusetts. enforceable.
This decision reduced the number of drivers to about 13,600.
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