SAN DIEGO — UPDATE 12 p.m.:
An appeals court has allowed ride-hailing giants Uber and Lyft to continue treating their drivers as independent contractors while an appeal works its way through the court.
Both companies had threatened to shut down if a ruling went into effect Friday morning that would have forced them to treat all their drivers as employees, a change they said would be impossible to accomplish overnight.
At issue is a decision that could re-shape the so-called gig economy as drivers, delivery workers and others who work for popular apps on an as-needed basis seek improved working conditions and benefits that many in the workforce enjoy.
As of 2:15 p.m., Lyft officially changed its message on its website stating it will not suspend activity in California on Thursday night as previously announced.
Lyft posted an update to their suspension post on the website stating, "UPDATE: Rideshare is ON. The California court has granted our request for a further stay, so our rideshare operations can continue uninterrupted, for now. Thanks to the tens of thousands of drivers, riders, and public officials who urged California to keep rideshare available for so many people who depend on it."
Original story below from 9 a.m.
On Thursday, rideshare giant Lyft announced they will suspend ridesharing in California at 11:59 PM PT on Thursday, August 20.
In a statement, Lyft said, “We did everything we could to prevent this from happening and keep Lyft available for you, but it wasn’t possible to overhaul our business model and operations in ten days. An overwhelming majority of drivers don’t want us to make these changes either, because they would fundamentally alter how rideshare works, who is able to drive, and when.
We know that millions of people across the state depend on Lyft — from our community of drivers who earn by giving rides, to the essential workers and local residents who take those rides to work or the store — and we’re concerned about how this will impact all of them.”
For the full statement, click here.
Lyft says that during the suspension customers can still use Lyft bikes, Lyft scooters and Lyft rentals.
The rideshare companies recently lost a court battle regarding Assembly Bill 5, with a judge ruling the companies must classify their drivers as employees rather than independent contractors in order to comply with the law, which went into effect Jan. 1.
San Francisco-based Judge Ethan P. Schulman ruled in favor of California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, and the city attorneys of San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco in their lawsuit alleging Uber and Lyft have misclassified their drivers, preventing them from receiving "the compensation and benefits they have earned through the dignity of their labor" such as the right to minimum wage, sick leave, unemployment insurance and workers' compensation benefits.
