Uber: New York Drivers File Lawsuit Claiming Ride-Hailing Company is Stealing Their Wages

Jun 03, 2016 04:28 AM EDT

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(Photo : Spencer Platt/Getty Images) New York City taxi drivers hold a rally in front of Governor Andrew Cuomo's office to protest against recent inroads made by the Uber car service on September 16, 2015 in New York City. Calling Uber's business model dangerous to worker's full time employment, the drivers joined with the New York Taxi Workers Alliance in demanding that the state begin to regulate private car services.

Uber has once again been hit with a lawsuit filed by 10 Uber drivers from the New York Taxi Workers Alliances (NYTWA) claiming that the ride-hailing and ride-sharing company is stealing their wages.

NYTWA, which represents around 5,000 Uber drivers in New York, filed the claims on Thursday, stating that the ride-hailing giant reportedly peruses the wages of the drivers unfairly. Moreover, the suit alleges that the company does not offer additional protections to the employees and misclassified them as independent contractors.

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The class action lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Manhattan, points out that Uber misclassifies them as independent contractors, because of which they are unable to get minimum wage, overtime pay, and reimbursements for expenses such as maintenance and gas.

The drivers maintain that instead of getting decent wages as promised by Uber in 2011 when it started, their salaries only go towards car payments, maintenance, and surcharges levied by Uber. The lawsuit adds, "Uber, through its practices and broken promises, severely harmed the thousands of drivers they recruited and have contributed greatly to a 'race to the bottom.'"

The same group of Uber drivers filed a separate lawsuit with the National Labor Relations Board, claiming that Uber was also illegally preventing their drivers from filing lawsuits against the company. This move comes after NYTWA criticized a deal made between Uber and the International Machinists and Aerospace workers to create an independent drivers guild for Uber drivers in New York.

Uber spokesman Matthew Wing said in a statement that the lawsuit is nothing more than a stunt and criticized the NYTWA for suing in behalf of the Uber drivers.

This is not the first lawsuit against Uber of its kind. In April, Uber agreed to settle a similar lawsuit that claimed drivers were actually employees of the firm.

Uber offered to pay $100 million to the 385,000 drivers who filed the lawsuit, which is yet to be approved in court. At least eight more cases of similar nature are still pending in seven states, including Texas and New York.

TagsUber, New York Uber drivers, New York Taxi Workers Alliances, New York, Uber lawsuit, New York Uber, Uber Drivers