Key facts
- Lyft will pay $272.5 million to settle wage theft claims in California.
- The settlement covers alleged violations between April 2016 and December 2020.
- The cases were brought by the state of California and the cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego.
- This is the largest settlement involving wage theft claims in California history.
- Lyft stated that drivers have always been properly classified under the law.
Lyft has agreed to pay $272.5 million to settle claims by the state of California and three of its largest cities that the company mislabeled drivers as independent contractors rather than employees to save money. The settlement, which is subject to court approval, covers alleged violations between April 2016 and December 2020.
California sued Lyft in 2021, as did Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego. These cases were merged with lawsuits brought on behalf of thousands of Lyft drivers. The state Labor Commissioner's Office stated that this is the largest settlement involving wage theft claims in California history.
In a statement, Lyft said that drivers have always been properly classified under the law and expressed gladness to put the case behind them. App-based services like Lyft and Uber have been fighting worker misclassification claims for over a decade, as contractors are not owed minimum wage, overtime, and other protections under federal and state laws.
In 2023, Lyft and Uber jointly agreed to pay $328 million to settle similar claims brought by New York's attorney general.