Meet the Lawyer Challenging the Food-Delivery Industry

Uber’s employment practices have been making headlines lately, and the pending lawsuit against the company in the state of California could have wide-ranging implications for the entire on-demand economy. The crux of the case is the classification of Uber drivers. Many drivers claim they are employees, not contract workers, but the company disagrees. The classification is important: When companies classify workers as contract workers, employers don’t have to pay minimum wage or contribute to Social Security payments, unemployment or workers’ compensation. And contract workers shouldn’t legally be trained or told how to perform their job.

Boston-based attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan is representing Uber drivers in California, but it’s not just the ride-share app she has her sights on — it’s the entire on-demand economy, which Liss-Riordan believes encourages a systematic misclassification and mistreatment of its workers.

The latest companies that have attracted Liss-Riordan’s attention, and her litigations, are food delivery start-ups.

Read the rest of this post on the original site »

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?

Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple reasons that we can't rely only on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on.

First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.

Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. We can’t do that if we have a paywall.

That’s why we also turn to you, our readers, to help us keep Vox free. If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today?

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via