Photo: Sam Harnett on Twitter
Uber’s push for Proposition 22 in the United States is getting more complicated, as a group of drivers in California decided to sue the company for its intrusive notifications displayed while using the app.
More specifically, a report from Washington Post reveals that drivers claim Uber violated their employment rights and the company got involved in what is being described as “illegal political coercion.”
Uber has turned to in-app notifications to urge drivers to support Proposition 22, a California ballot initiative that would pretty much make it possible for the company to skirt the 2019 Assembly Bill 5 requiring industries to classify workers as employees and not as independent contractors. The law would thus force these firms to offer job protections and other benefits to their workers.
Uber and a series of other companies thus came up with Proposition 22, and they have since invested millions of dollars in campaigns supposed to convince drivers and users alike to vote yes in November.
Uber has also started showing in-app notifications as part of this campaign, but drivers now think the whole thing is getting too intrusive.
According to posts on Twitter earlier this week, some of these notifications need to be clicked every time a user requests a ride, while an updated version only showed up occasionally and actually came with a close button to ignore the message.
Uber has already responded to the lawsuit, explaining that despite these claims, most drivers still support Proposition 22.
“This is an absurd lawsuit, without merit, filed solely for press attention and without regard for the facts,” Uber spokesman Noah Edwardsen said. "It can’t distract from the truth: that the vast majority of drivers support Prop 22 and have for months because they know it will improve their lives and protect the way they prefer to work.”
According to the Washington Post, the lawsuit alleges that Uber might actually track how drivers interact with the notifications and the survey answers and eventually favor those who support Proposition 22.
Uber has turned to in-app notifications to urge drivers to support Proposition 22, a California ballot initiative that would pretty much make it possible for the company to skirt the 2019 Assembly Bill 5 requiring industries to classify workers as employees and not as independent contractors. The law would thus force these firms to offer job protections and other benefits to their workers.
Uber and a series of other companies thus came up with Proposition 22, and they have since invested millions of dollars in campaigns supposed to convince drivers and users alike to vote yes in November.
Uber has also started showing in-app notifications as part of this campaign, but drivers now think the whole thing is getting too intrusive.
According to posts on Twitter earlier this week, some of these notifications need to be clicked every time a user requests a ride, while an updated version only showed up occasionally and actually came with a close button to ignore the message.
Uber has already responded to the lawsuit, explaining that despite these claims, most drivers still support Proposition 22.
“This is an absurd lawsuit, without merit, filed solely for press attention and without regard for the facts,” Uber spokesman Noah Edwardsen said. "It can’t distract from the truth: that the vast majority of drivers support Prop 22 and have for months because they know it will improve their lives and protect the way they prefer to work.”
According to the Washington Post, the lawsuit alleges that Uber might actually track how drivers interact with the notifications and the survey answers and eventually favor those who support Proposition 22.
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