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Lyft to pay $272.5M in California driver misclassification lawsuit
The deal would send 87% of the settlement to drivers and resolves claims that Lyft denied wage and workplace protections by classifying them as contractors.
Lyft agreed to pay $272.5 million to settle California state and local lawsuits alleging the company misclassified drivers as independent contractors, denying them mandatory workplace protections between 2016 and 2020.
In 2020, California Attorney General Rob Bonta and city attorneys from Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego sued Lyft, alleging the company deprived drivers of minimum wages and overtime pay before Proposition 22 passed.
At least $237 million, representing 87% of the total settlement, will be distributed to eligible drivers based on hours and miles driven during the covered period ending December 2020.
While not admitting liability, Lyft maintains that drivers were properly classified under the law, though the settlement closes claims for the 2016–2020 period covered by the agreement.
State authorities continue to litigate similar misclassification cases against Uber, as this settlement does not require Lyft to change its current business practices or reclassify workers going forward.