Miami, FL: An employment class action lawsuit has been filed against Lyft Inc by a driver who alleges the ride share company misclassified him as an independent contractor, and is therefore in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
Filed in Florida by lead plaintiff Fequiere Frederic, who worked as a Lyft driver in Tampa, the complaint states that Lyft misclassifies its drivers and violates the FLSA by failing to pay the minimum wage, failing to pay drivers overtime compensation and subjecting the drivers to citations and criminal charges for operating without a proper permit.
"In an effort to avoid providing its drivers with the minimum benefits and protections afforded employees under the FLSA and Florida law, Lyft has willfully, uniformly and unilaterally classified each and every one of its drivers as independent contractors rather than employees, despite the fact that the factual circumstances of the relationship between Lyft and its drivers clearly demonstrate that Lyft drivers are in fact employees of the company,"the complaint states.
Frederic further alleges that Lyft controls their drivers' work, retains the right to hire and fire drivers, has the right to block drivers from using the Lyft platform, takes a 20 percent administration fee from driver gratuities, sets all rates of pay for drivers and prohibits drivers from hiring others to help them. Therefore, the complaint states, the drivers should be considered employees of the company.
According to the complaint, Lyft drivers are not paid a wage by the hour, but instead are paid according to a company-derived formula that results in Lyft drivers not being paid for all of the hours that they work and not meeting the hourly minimum wage required by federal law.
Further, Frederic alleges that Lyft has failed to provide its drivers with proper insurance, vehicle inspections and background checks, in violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.
"Lyft's drivers who have been charged with criminal violations must perform hours of community service for no compensation, and receive permanent documentation of the charges on the drivers' criminal record or must pay to have these records sealed,"Frederic said.
The plaintiff seeks to represent a class of drivers who worked for Lyft from June 18, 2012, to the present. Frederic is represented by Brandon J. Hill of Wenzel Fenton Cabassa PA. The case is Frederic et al. v. Lyft Inc., case number 8:15-cv-01608, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
