Writing in NLJ this week, Lindsey Sasson, attorney at Hach & Rose LLP in New York, examines how arbitration clauses, class action waivers and ‘independent contractor’ classifications have helped Uber defeat negligence claims in the US.
American arbitrators have repeatedly ruled that drivers are not employees, relying heavily on contractual wording and Uber’s ability to force disputes into arbitration. Sasson says the company’s post-Epic Systems strategy transformed arbitration into ‘the primary instrument’ for managing litigation risk.
In England, however, Uber faces a more complicated framework because private hire licensing laws place obligations on operators as well as drivers. The UK Supreme Court’s ruling in Uber BV v Aslam also created a more ‘nuanced’ worker status test.
Despite these differences, Sasson argues Uber’s core approach remains the same: ‘push liability downstream to the driver’ wherever possible.
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