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43 W. St. U. L. Rev. 329 (2015-2016)
Cotter v. Lyft, Inc., 60 F. Supp. 3d 1067 (2015)

handle is hein.journals/wsulr43 and id is 345 raw text is: Cotter v. Lyft, Inc., 60 F. Supp. 3d 1067 (2015). Opinion by Honorable Vince Chhabira, United States District Judge. OVERARCHING ISSUE Whether Lyft drivers are independent contractors or employees under California law. STATEMENT OF FACTS Lyft Operates a smartphone application (app), through which passengers are matched with nearby drivers who are available to transport people in their personal automobiles. At the time this suit was filed, Lyft marketed itself as a ride service from, Your friend with a car.' Lyft cars are easily recognizable because Lyft provides some of its drivers with a Carstache (big fuzzy pink mustache) to attach to the front of the car when giving Lyfts.2 To become a Lyft driver, a person must download the app, submit his car for inspection, undergo some form of background check, and submit to an in-person interview.3 To be a rider a person must simply download the app onto her smartphone and register her credit card information.4 When the rider uses the app to hail a ride, the nearest driver can then accept, decline or ignore the ride request. If the driver accepts the ride, he is matched with the rider and generally proceeds to pick her up and drive her to her destination. However, the driver is free to cancel his acceptance before picking up the rider.' During the time the Plaintiffs all drove for Lyft, the app operated on a donation system where it would recommend a price to the rider, the rider could accept it, pay less, pay nothing, or ignore it and eventually be charged Lyft's full recommended donation amount (Lyft has since changed in California and other markets to charge all riders a minimum fare).6 Lyft retained a 20 percent administrative fee from each charge and paid the remainder to the driver, with the driver receiving payment from Lyft on a weekly basis for all rides given during that week.7 Lyft uses projected demand to determine how many drivers it will allow to log onto the app in driver mode at any one time.8 Lyft has three options for drivers to drive during certain times: (1) drivers could submit requests for particular hours one week in advance and Lyft would approve some or all of these hours; (2) if it was less 1. Cotter v. Lyft, Inc., 60 F. Supp. 3d 1070, 1069 (2015). 2. Id. 3. Id. 4. Id. 5. Id. 6. Id. 7. Cotter, 60 F. Supp. 3d at 1071. 8. Id.

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