In a recent announcement, Covington, a prominent U.S. law firm, revealed that Stacey Grigsby, former deputy White House counsel to President Joe Biden, has returned to the firm. Grigsby, previously a partner at Covington before her stint in the White House counsel’s office in the summer of 2022, will now take on a leadership role within the government litigation team.

Role at Covington

Grigsby’s return to Covington marks her appointment as co-chair of the government litigation practice, a significant role considering the firm’s reputation and extensive legal expertise. With over 1,300 lawyers at Covington, she will also become a valuable member of the commercial litigation group.

Expertise in Civil Rights Issues

During her tenure at the White House counsel’s office, Grigsby focused on crucial civil rights issues, including reproductive and voting rights. This experience positions her well to contribute to Covington’s legacy of impactful civil rights and racial equity work.

Involvement in Institutional Culture and Social Responsibility

Beyond her litigation responsibilities, Grigsby will play a pivotal role in Covington’s institutional culture and social responsibility practice. Here, she plans to advise companies on various fronts, including racial equity audits, sensitive investigations, and matters related to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

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Covington’s Track Record

Covington has earned acclaim for its civil rights and racial equity audits, serving major corporations such as Starbucks, Citigroup, and Verizon. Given her background and expertise in these critical areas, Grigsby’s return enhances the firm’s capabilities.

Emphasis on Novel Legal Issues

Grigsby expressed that her decision to return to Covington was ” natural, ” underscoring the firm’s roster of high-profile former government lawyers and its commitment to tackling “novel legal issues.” This emphasis positions Covington as a leader in navigating legal challenges at the forefront of the industry.

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Financial Disclosures

In a September 2022 ethics disclosure, Grigsby reported substantial compensation exceeding $2.3 million since the beginning of 2021. This compensation was tied to her work advising notable clients, including Meta, Uber, American Airlines, Johnson & Johnson, and Sony Music Publishing.

In summary, Stacey Grigsby’s return to Covington signifies a strategic move for both her and the law firm, aligning their collective strengths to address complex legal issues and further solidifying Covington’s standing as a government litigation and social responsibility leader.

Don’t be a silent ninja! Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

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Summary: An Uber driver allegedly shot a passenger in Denver Friday morning. 

An Uber driver allegedly murdered a passenger on a highway in Denver, Colorado. According to TIME, the two parties had a conflict which led to the shooting.

Denver police department spokesman Sonny Jackson said that the driver and passenger had been fighting before the driver shot the passenger. The incident occurred at about 3 am on Friday on Interstate 25.

Jackson said that both parties were taken to hospitals, and the victim was pronounced dead and the driver was treated and released. According to Fox Denver, the highway was closed for about five hours after the shooting.

“This is very preliminary, but it appears there was an Uber driver and his passenger got into a conflict inside his vehicle, shots were exchanged, shots were fired and the passenger it appears was shot,” Jackson said. “We’re going to need to talk with that driver.”

Police said that the Uber driver’s car, a silver sedan, had veered off the road and hit an on-ramp near the University Boulevard Bridge. It is unclear if the passenger had also fired rounds.

“We do know this person was an Uber driver. We’re going to determine if he was actually on a ride when this happened. We’re going to determine what the relationship was between what appears to be a passenger and a driver prior to this particular ride,” Jackson told KUSA-TV. “That’s the one thing I would stress anyone that was on the highway at this time ….if they saw a conflict going on inside this vehicle please let us know.”

Denver police have contacted Uber, who released a statement to USA Today. 

“We are all deeply troubled by the events in Denver today. Our thoughts are with the families of those involved, and we will continue working closely with police,” Uber said.

Uber has a no-gun policy for drivers and said that it conducts criminal background checks on those in its network. Despite these policies, however, there have been several reported instances in Colorado of unsafe Uber rides.

“This is just the latest troublesome incident for the ride-hailing company in Denver and the state of Colorado. In April, Denver law professor Nancy Leong fired off a series of tweets describing how her Uber driver told her he was going to take her to a hotel instead of the Denver International Airport. At a stop light, she said she screamed and pounded on the vehicle windows until nearby construction workers noticed and the driver then unlocked the doors and Leong got out,” USA Today said. “Last year, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission fined Uber $8.9 million after regulators found 57 Uber drivers over the previous year and a half were on the job despite having felony convictions, major moving violations or were driving with a suspended, revoked or canceled driver’s license.”

• Uber Eats Driver Allegedly Kills Customer in Atlanta 
• Uber’s Legal Troubles May Never End 
• Judge Sends Benchmark’s Lawsuit against Former Uber CEO to Arbitration
• Disability Groups Claim Uber Is Discriminating against Them

What do you think of Uber? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Denver Uber Driver Shoots Passenger first appeared on JDJournal Blog.

Summary: Uber and Waymo have settled their trade secrets legal battle. 

Uber has agreed to pay Waymo $245 million in equity, ending the two parties’ battle over trade secrets.

On Friday morning, the first week of testimony in the trial was ending, Business Insider said, but the two parties decided to stop the proceedings. They announced a surprise settlement, and Uber’s CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, said that he regretted the actions that led to the lawsuit.

“We agree that Uber’s acquisition of Otto could and should have been handled differently,” Khosrowshahi stated.

Khosrowshahi was referring to the self-driving car company that Uber had acquired in 2016. The company, Otto, was founded by Anthony Levandowski, a self-driving technology engineer who had previously worked at Google, which is owned by Alphabet. Alphabet, who also owns Waymo, said that Levandowski had stolen their trade secrets and given them to Uber.

Waymo, Alphabet’s self-driving technology company, sued Uber in February of 2017. The lawsuit was contentious, and Uber was accused of destroying evidence during discovery.

On Friday, Uber said that they will pay Waymo 0.34% of Uber equity. The company has been valued at $72 billion, which means Waymo stands to collect hundreds of millions of dollars.

Khosrowshahi added in his statement that Uber’s self-driving technology does not include any intellectual property from Waymo, and that they were committed to doing good, honest work.

“We are committed to working with Uber to make sure that each company develops its own technology,” Khosrowshahi said. “This includes an agreement to ensure that any Waymo confidential information is not being incorporated in Uber Advanced Technologies Group hardware and software. We have always believed competition should be fueled by innovation in the labs and on the roads and we look forward to bringing fully self-driving cars to the world.”

Khosrowshahi took over as head of the company after it ousted founder Travis Kalanick, who has been accused of creating a toxic work environment and being ruthless in growing his ride-share business into a multi-billion dollar brand.

Before the settlement, Uber denied stealing trade secrets from Waymo, but Waymo and Alphabet said that Levandowski had downloaded thousands of files while working at Google and he had used that information in his own work.

During the discovery process, Uber had asked Levandowski to turn in his files to be searched, but he had refused, citing his Fifth Amendment right to not incriminate himself. In April, Levandowski resigned from working on Uber’s lidar technology, which allows the self-driving cars to “see” using radar.

• Uber Sued for Massive Data Breach and Cover Up
• Former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick Fights Back against Benchmark Lawsuit
• Judge Sends Benchmark’s Lawsuit against Former Uber CEO to Arbitration
• Disability Groups Claim Uber Is Discriminating against Them

What do you think of Uber’s self-driving technology? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Uber, Waymo Reach $245 Million Settlement in Self-Driving Cars Case first appeared on JDJournal Blog.

Summary: Time has awarded the title of 2017 Person of the Year to the “Silence Breakers” who came forward to fight sexual harassment.

President Donald Trump said on Twitter that he was being considered as Time’s Person of the Year, but the magazine apparently had other plans. On Wednesday, the publication announced its winner, a collection of people who spoke out against sexual harassment. Trump, who has been accused of harassment by nearly 20 women, was listed as number two on the list.

Time’s cover featured six women who fought sexual harassment: actress Ashley Judd, singer Taylor Swift, corporate lobbyist Adama Iwu, agriculture worker Isabel Pascual, former Uber engineer Susan Fowler, and an anonymous woman. The publication called these women and others like them Silence Breakers of the #MeToo movement.

Ashley Judd was the first person to go on the record to say that Harvey Weinstein had sexually harassed her during her career. She was interviewed by the New York Times, who exposed Weinstein in early October. Once the Weinstein story broke, dozens of women came forward to accuse the Hollywood mogul of sexual harassment, sexual assault, or rape; and a class-action lawsuit is pending against him and his company for racketeering.

Taylor Swift was listed as a Silence Breaker because she sued Colorado DJ, David Mueller for allegedly grabbing her butt during a photo op. A jury awarded her a victory, and she won a symbolic $1, which the disgraced DJ has yet to pay.

Adama Iwu shook up Sacramento, California when she started an anti-sexual harassment campaign in October. She said that she was groped at an event in front of her colleagues and that no one did anything. The horrific experience inspired her to rally her female colleagues to expose sexual harassment in government.

Isabel Pascual, a strawberry picker from Mexico, said that she was sexually harassed at work and that her abuser stalked her and threatened her family. In November, she and 700,000 agriculture workers joined a celebrity march in California to fight sexual harassment, proving that the problem affects women of all ages, races, and classes.

Uber engineer Susan Fowler wrote a blog post about her former employer, and she outlined the sexual harassment and abusive environment that plagued the multi-billion dollar ride share company. Her post prompted Uber to hire former US Attorney General Eric Holder to conduct an investigation, and it was her post that has been credited for initiating change and getting then-CEO Travis Kalanick ousted.

These women along with others such as actress Alyssa Milano, actor Terry Crews, and journalist Megyn Kelly were also featured as a Silence Breaker.

Time Editor-in-Chief Edward Felsenthal said that our country is experiencing a cultural shift in how to treat others in the workplace, and those who spoke out about harassment are leading the movement.

“The galvanizing actions of the women on our cover along with those of hundreds of others, and of many men as well, have unleashed one of the highest-velocity shifts in our culture since the 1960s,” Felsenthal said. “The roots of Time’s annual franchise — singling out the person or persons who most influenced the events of the year — lie in the so-called great man theory of history, a phrasing that sounds particularly anachronistic at this moment. But the idea that influential, inspirational individuals shape the world could not be more apt this year. For giving voice to open secrets, for moving whisper networks onto social networks, for pushing us all to stop accepting the unacceptable, The Silence Breakers are the 2017 Person of the Year.”

• Terry Crews Sues WME Agent Adam Venit for Sexual Harassment 
• Lawsuit Claims Harvey Weinstein Is a Sex Trafficker

What do you think of Time Magazine’s Person of the Year? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Time Names Silence Breakers of the #MeToo Movement as Person of the Year first appeared on JDJournal Blog.

Summary: The trade secret lawsuit between Waymo and Uber has been postponed. 

Waymo, Google’s self-driving car project, was granted a request to postpone its trial against Uber over alleged trade secret theft. According to Law360, a California judge ruled in Waymo’s favor on Tuesday after Waymo accused Uber of hiding evidence that was discovered by federal prosecutors.

The trial was originally scheduled to begin on December 4, but Waymo filed a last-minute motion to postpone on Monday. Waymo said that Uber intentionally hid key evidence in the case, and it needed more time to prepare for trial now that the evidence has come to light.

“Given Uber’s consistent failures to meet its discovery obligations in this case, and apparent misrepresentations to this court, Waymo has no choice but to seek a continuance of the trial date to enable Waymo to take additional discovery on this new information that is indisputably relevant to Waymo’s trade secret misappropriation claims,” Waymo said in a court filing.

The evidence at the heart of the postponement was a letter from a former Uber security analyst’s attorney to an Uber lawyer. The letter reportedly had several bombshell revelations, including methods that Uber instructed employees to evade investigations.

Waymo said that it had learned about the letter last week from the Department of Justice, according to MSNBC. The former analyst spoke with authorities and said that Uber instructed people to use disappearing chat apps such as Wickr to prevent an electronic trail and that employees were trained to prevent Uber’s schemes from being made public.

According to Bloomberg, Uber has already tested U.S. District Judge William Alsup’s patience. Even before Monday’s filing, the judge was considering whether or not to inform jurors that Uber had destroyed evidence in anticipation of the Waymo trade secrets lawsuit.

Waymo sued Uber, saying that they stole trade secrets about self-driving car technology. The trial has already been postponed once, and jury selection was supposed to begin on Wednesday.

Uber has denied the allegations of theft.

“Uber has been waiting for its day in court for quite some time now,” Uber said in a statement to Bloomberg. “We’re keen to have a jury finally hear this case on its merits.”

Waymo filed its lawsuit against Uber in February. The company claimed that Anthony Levandowski, a former Waymo executive, had illegally downloaded 14,000 confidential files before his departure; and he had used that information to start a rival company called Otto, which was later acquired by Uber.

This lawsuit is not the only controversy the multi-billion dollar ride-share company has encountered since its inception. Recently, it was sued for a 2016 data breach that affected 57 million people; and it has also been accused of allowing sexual assaults from drivers, misclassifying its drivers as independent contractors, and numerous other charges.

• Former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick Fights Back against Benchmark Lawsuit
• Judge Sends Benchmark’s Lawsuit against Former Uber CEO to Arbitration
• Disability Groups Claim Uber Is Discriminating against Them
• Uber’s Legal Troubles May Never End 

What do you think of Uber? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Judge Grants Waymo's Request to Postpone Trade Secret Trial Against Uber first appeared on JDJournal Blog.

Summary: This week Uber disclosed it had paid hackers $100,000 to not publicly disclose a data breach that affected 57 million people worldwide. 

An upset customer sued Uber on Tuesday after the ride-share company announced that it had a massive data breach last year that affected 57 million people. The multi-billion dollar company not only was hacked, but they paid $100,000 to keep the incident under wraps, an act that has prompted the government and a few states to launch investigations.

The class-action seeking lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles on Tuesday by a disgruntled customer, according to Bloomberg. 

“Uber failed to implement and maintain reasonable security procedures and practices appropriate to the nature and scope of the information compromised in the data breach,” the complaint said.

The plaintiff is suing on behalf of 50 million consumers and 7 million drivers who had their data exposed by Uber in 2016 and were only notified of the breach this week. According to Uber, names and addresses were accessed by hackers but social security numbers and credit card information was not.

In the lawsuit, plaintiff Alejandro Flores accused Uber of failing to keep customer data safe.

On Wednesday, a second lawsuit was filed by Danyelle Townsend and Ken Tew in San Francisco, according to ARS Technica. Like Flores, they also accused Uber of not having safety measures in place and were seeking class-action status.

“Major corporations like Uber face a higher threat of security breaches than smaller companies due in part to the large amounts of data they possess,” the second lawsuit wrote. “Uber knew or should have known its security systems were inadequate, particularly in light of the prior data breaches that Uber had experienced, and yet Uber failed to take reasonable precautions to safeguard the PII of Plaintiffs and members of the Nationwide Class.”

Huffington Post reported that numerous federal and state agencies announced that they are launching inquiries into Uber because of the hack. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri and New York said on Wednesday that they will begin probes soon. Officials in Australia, Britain, and the Philippines also said they would look into the matter.

Keller Rohrback, the law firm representing the second lawsuit, said that Uber paying off hackers put its consumers at risk.

“By choosing not to disclose this massive data breach and attempting to mitigate the breach by paying the hackers to destroy the data, Uber has essentially rolled the dice with its customers’ and drivers’ personal identities,” Cari Campen Laufenberg of Keller Rohrback attorney told ARS Technica. “What’s more, it has done so for more than a year–denying these victims the crucial opportunity to take timely steps to mitigate the disclosure of their private information.”

Uber declined to comment on the pending litigation.

• Former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick Fights Back against Benchmark Lawsuit
• Judge Sends Benchmark’s Lawsuit against Former Uber CEO to Arbitration
• Disability Groups Claim Uber Is Discriminating against Them

What do you think about Uber’s data breach? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Uber Sued for Massive Data Breach and Cover-Up first appeared on JDJournal Blog.

Summary: A lawsuit alleges Uber drivers sexually assaulted thousands of female passengers. 

Two women filed a class-action seeking lawsuit in San Francisco against Uber on Tuesday. They claim that the ride-hailing service allowed “thousands” of women to be raped or harassed by their drivers, due to poor background checks and lack of monitoring.

“The company must come forward with information about how many reports it has received about rapes, sexual assaults, and gender-motivated harassment to allow consumers to assess whether Uber really does provide safe rides, especially to women,” Jeanne M. Christensen, an attorney with Wigdor LLP, said. Christensen’s firm is representing plaintiffs Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2.

The plaintiffs live in Miami and Los Angeles, and both say that they were sexually assaulted by Uber drivers, according to ABC News. In their lawsuit, they said that Uber performs low-quality background checks on drivers and does not monitor them for “violent or inappropriate conduct after they are hired.”

In the complaint, the women said that even after being notified, Uber did “nothing meaningful” to prevent sexual violence against its female passengers. Uber told ABC News that they were reviewing the lawsuit and that the company takes these claims seriously.

“Uber received this complaint today and we are in the process of reviewing it,” the spokesperson said. “These allegations are important to us and we take them very seriously.”

Earlier this month, Uber said that it was implementing a new initiative to prevent domestic violence and sexual assault. One component of this initiative is providing drivers with training from the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence and the National Network to End Domestic Violence. Before the lawsuit, the company also announced that it was spending $5 million over five years to research “prevention initiatives” for domestic violence and sexual assault.

“We will continue to listen, learn, collaborate and build on our commitment to prevent sexual assault and domestic violence,” Uber stated.

The accusations in the recent lawsuit are similar to one filed by a woman in India, USA Today said. The woman said that Uber tried to obtain her medical records to discredit her after she claimed an Uber driver raped her.

Tuesday’s lawsuit said that Uber does not require fingerprint checks like cab companies do and that the multi-billion dollar tech company needs to make “drastic changes” to its business model in order to protect its passengers.

According to USA Today, Wigdor LLP, which is representing the plaintiffs, has also filed lawsuits against Uber and Fox News for gender discrimination or harassment.

• Uber’s Legal Troubles May Never End 
• Former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick Fights Back against Benchmark Lawsuit
• Judge Sends Benchmark’s Lawsuit against Former Uber CEO to Arbitration
• Disability Groups Claim Uber Is Discriminating against Them

What do you think of Uber? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Lawsuit Alleges Thousands of Women Raped by Uber Drivers first appeared on JDJournal Blog.

Summary: Uber UK appears to be losing its battle to keep its drivers classified as independent contractors. 

This week, a UK tribunal set Uber back when it ruled that its drivers could be classified as workers and not independent contractors. The multi-billion dollar ride-share company lost its appeal against a decision from last year. According to Tech Crunch, “Uber’s appeal against the ruling was heard in September. But the Employment Appeal Tribunal has now upheld the original verdict — denying a first appeal.”

The original ruling only applies to the people who brought on the case, but what could hurt Uber is that it sets a precedent for other drivers.

Uber’s business model is dependent on its drivers remaining independent contractors. Drivers provide their own cars and insurance, and they set their own hours. However, Uber would have nothing if these drivers did not exist, but the company said that it would be too costly to give them employee benefits such as insurance or paid time off.

According to Tech Crunch, Uber UK has almost 50,000 drivers and the cost of changing their employment status to worker and not independent contractor could cost them tens of millions of pounds.

“Almost all taxi and private hire drivers have been self-employed for decades, long before our app existed. The main reason why drivers use Uber is because they value the freedom to choose if, when and where they drive and so we intend to appeal,” a spokesman for Uber said. “The tribunal relies on the assertion that drivers are required to take 80% of trips sent to them when logged into the app. As drivers who use Uber know, this has never been the case in the UK. Over the last year we have made a number of changes to our app to give drivers even more control. We’ve also invested in things like access to illness and injury cover and we’ll keep introducing changes to make driving with Uber even better.”

In their appeal, Uber said that they acted as agent’s for drivers, finding them clients, but the UK tribunal was not buying that explanation. Although this appeal failed, Uber can next file with the UK Court of Appeal and the UK Supreme Court, which means this case is likely not over. However, a UK attorney predicts that if Uber were to continue fighting, they wouldn’t win.

“If the case proceeds to the Supreme Court, it will be keenly fought by excellent lawyers but the signs suggest that Uber will continue to be driving uphill,” Sean Nesbitt, partner in international law firm Taylor Wessing LLP, said to Tech Crunch. 

A plaintiff in the case, Yaseem Aslam, said that he was happy with the judge’s ruling.

“I am glad that the judge today confirmed what I and thousands of drivers have known all along: that Uber is not only exploiting drivers, but also acting unlawfully. We will carry on fighting until this exploitation stops and workers’ rights are respected,” Aslam said.

• Uber Agrees to Settled $20 Million Text Message Case 
• Uber’s Chief Legal Officer Stepping Down 
• Judge Sends Benchmark’s Lawsuit against Former Uber CEO to Arbitration

What do you think of Uber’s business model? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Uber Loses UK Appeal in Worker Classification Case first appeared on JDJournal Blog.

Summary: Uber has settled a lawsuit that claimed they texted people promotions without their consent.

Uber has reached another class-action settlement, this time for sending out annoying text messages. The ride-share company is expected to pay $20 million to settle the case, which accused them of violating federal law. As part of the terms, Uber has agreed to alter its texting practices but has denied wrongdoing.

According to The Chicago Tribune, Illinois local Maria Vergara sued Uber on August 7, 2015, after she said Uber sent her at least eight unsolicited text messages to get her to register for the service. She said that she had never used Uber or tried to download the app and that they had sent her different confirmation numbers in each text.

Vergara filed her lawsuit in Cook County’s federal court, and on January 23, an Illinois District Court judge will review the settlement terms for approval. If okayed, the attorneys in this case are expected to receive $6.7 million plus costs and expenses, and the six plaintiffs should get about $10,000.

According to TopClassActions, Myles McGuire, Evan M. Meyers and Paul T. Geske of McGuire Law PC and Hassan A. Zavareei, Andrea R. Gold and Andrew J. Silver of Tycko & Zavareei LLP represented the plaintiffs.

The class-action lawsuit alleged that Uber violated the Telephone Consumer Protect Act, which forbids sending automated text messages to people without their permission. The act says that these messages cause “aggravation and invasion of privacy.”

In Vergara’s lawsuit, she said that Uber has inaccurate phone numbers and that the multi-billion dollar company routinely sends unsolicited text messages to people who never gave consent to be contacted. She said that this practice costs cell phone users money because phone companies charge for spam.

The other plaintiffs in the case are Sandeep Pal, Jennifer Reilly, Justin Bartolet, James Lathrop and Jonathan Grindel. Paul Geske of McGuire Law said that his clients were “incredibly pleased” with the settlement. The amount received by the plaintiffs will be dependent on how many other people join the class-action.

Anyone who has received unsolicited texts from Uber between December 31, 2010 and August 17, 2017 are eligible to join the class-action if they file a claim. For more information, visit www.UberTCPASettlement.com or call 800-330-1683.

The mega-successful transportation company is a frequent target of lawsuits–with cases ranging from sexual harassment to antitrust violations. This summer, Uber’s board forced the resignation of its controversial founder, Travis Kalanick; and Kalanick is now embroiled in a bitter fight over his remaining power with one of the company’s investors. In August, Dara Khosrowshahi took over as the CEO, and in September Uber’s chief legal officer Salle Yoo announced that she would be leaving the company.

Yoo had been with Uber for almost five years and had been pivotal in the company’s fight with the government over regulatory issues, including federal probes into potential foreign bribes and the use of software to thwart law enforcement stings.

• Uber’s Legal Troubles May Never End  
• Salle Yoo Stepping Down as Chief Legal Officer 
• Judge Sends Benchmark’s Lawsuit against Former Uber CEO to Arbitration

What do you think of Uber? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Uber Agrees to $20 Million Settlement in Text Message Class Action Lawsuit first appeared on JDJournal Blog.

Summary: The Transportation authority in London has not allowed Uber to renew its license, due to concerns over how it regulates its drivers.

Uber is not being issued a new private hire license, allowing them to operate in London, according to Transport for London (TfL). The licensing organization found that the ride-hailing app company was not fit and proper to be holding a private hire operator license in their city. Their current license runs until September 30.

TfL based their decision due to the “public safety and security implications.” Uber has the option to appeal against the decision, which they indicated they plan to. Uber said London is “far from being open, London is closed to innovative companies.” They have 21 days to appeal and can continue to operate while the appeal is processed.

The way Uber handles background checks on their drivers and reports serious criminal offenses was a cause for concern for TfL. There are around 40,000 drivers using the Uber app in London and some 3.5 million passengers.

London Mayor of Sadiq Khan said, “I fully support TfL’s decision – it would be wrong if TfL continued to license Uber if there is any way that this could pose a threat to Londoners’ safety and security.” However, one driver said, “I don’t think it is a fair decision. Uber offers a flexible schedule, and a weekly income.”

Critics of Uber claim the app as caused gridlocked roads and does not do enough to regulate drivers. Fred Jones, head of cities for Uber in the UK and Ireland, told BBC that their drivers are required to pass the same safety checks in London as the black cab and minicab drivers.

Some believe the app may end up being banned in London but that speculation has Uber drivers upset. Uber’s general manager in London, Tom Elvidge, said, “By wanting to ban our app from the capital, Transport for London and the mayor have caved into a small number of people who want to restrict consumer choice. If this decision stands, it will put more than 40,000 licensed drivers out of work and deprive Londoners of a convenient and affordable form of transport. To defend the livelihoods of all those drivers, and the consumer choice of millions of Londoners who use our app, we intend to immediately challenge this in the courts.”

Uber started an online petition to reverse the decision, gathering tens of thousands of signatures in just a few hours. The division seems to draw a line between those in official positions being opposed to Uber while the general public is in favor. Twitter user Gabriella Salazar tweeted, “As a woman who lives alone and goes outside after dark, I’m really annoyed. Uber is so useful (and cheap) when in uncomfy situations.”

Those applauding the decision include Labour MP Wes Streeting and General Secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association Steve McNamara. One person in a major position that is not happy with the decision is David Leam of London First. He said, “This will be seen as a Luddite decision by millions of Londoners and international visitors who use Uber, and will also hit London’s reputation as a global tech hub.”

Another person that thinks the TfL made a mistake is chairman of the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain’s United Private Hire Drivers branch, James Farrar. He believes the ruling is a “devastating blow” to those drivers about to lose their income. He said, “To strip Uber of its license after five years of laissez-faire regulation is a testament to a systemic failure at TfL.”

Uber is no stranger to legal battles. They have been pushed out of cities and sued countless times for breaking the laws. Australia’s Northern Territory is currently deciding if Uber will be allowed to return to Darwin after a number of reforms were made that would allow for the app to open up. The ride-hailing company is also arguing its case in Denmark after four drivers were found to be in violation of their taxi meter law.

Do you think Uber should be held accountable for its freelance drivers? Tell us in the comments below.

To learn more about Uber’s recent legal battles, read these articles:

• Disability Groups Claim Uber Is Discriminating against Them
• Uber’s Legal Trouble May Never End
• Chief Legal Officer for Uber Stepping Down

Photo: flickr.com

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