‘Uber has been accused of trying to deter drivers from seeking compensation for missed holiday and minimum wage payments after a landmark court ruling.’
The Guardian, 22nd February 2021
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Tens of thousands of Uber drivers could be entitled to £12,000 in compensation, lawyers said today after the Supreme Court ruled they should be classed as workers.’
Litigation futures, 19th February 2021
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘In former times, if you wanted to build a business empire, you needed bricks, mortar and time. It took twenty years for Marks and Spencer to move from their first covered market in Leeds to their first shop. No more. You can run the world’s largest holiday lettings company without owning a hotel, or the largest book retailer in the world without a bookshop, and you can revolutionise the global taxi industry without owning a car. And it all happens at a dizzying pace. The question arises whether these commercial leviathans can be regulated and if so how.’
11 KBW, November 2020
Source: www.11kbw.com
‘Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council has lodged an appeal with Liverpool Crown Court over whether a former policeman convicted 14 years ago of abducting a 15-year-old girl should be granted a taxi driver licence.’
Local Government Lawyer, 22nd September 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘The Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association (LDTA) plans a legal challenge to London mayor Sadiq Khan and Transport for London (TfL) over their Streetspace policy.’
Local Government Lawyer, 21st August 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘The Court of Appeal has found for the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan in a case brought by minicab drivers, despite judges being troubled by aspects of his actions.’
Local Government Lawyer, 13th August 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘In this case the drivers argue Uber is a transportation company for whom they provide services as “workers”. Uber disagrees, arguing it is a technology services provider acting as an agent for drivers in their business relationship with passengers. The question for the Court is whether the drivers are “workers” for the purposes of s.230(3)(b) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, s.54(3)(b) of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 and reg.2(1) of the Working Time Regulations 1998. If this threshold is passed, a further issue is when the drivers are workers. Possible options include: (1) from the collection of the passenger until the driver reaches the passenger’s destination, (2) from the moment a booking is accepted until the passenger is dropped off, (3) any time when the driver is in the relevant territory with the Uber app switched on. This case is important as it provides an opportunity for the Supreme Court to provide guidance on the interpretation of Autoclenz v Belcher [2011] UKSC 41 and the correct approach to when it is permissible to disregard written contractual terms in an employment context.’
Old Square Chambers, 21st July 2020
Source: www.oldsquare.co.uk
‘Across the world, Gig employers are now facing a legal reckoning in the highest courts. On 21st July, the issue of whether Uber drivers are “workers” will be considered by a seven-member panel of the UK Supreme Court. This follows on from Mr Heller’s momentous victory in a recent decision of the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) in Uber Technologies Inc. v. Heller which involved a legal challenge to a mandatory arbitration clause in a contract between Uber and an UberEATS driver. The arbitration clause required disputes to be referred to arbitration in Amsterdam, which would be subject to the law of the Netherlands. The clause also required the payment of US $14,500 as an upfront administrative cost. The appellant earned $20,800–$31,200 per year before taxes and expenses were deducted. Nor did the fee include other costs likely to be incurred in an arbitration, such as travel to Amsterdam, accommodation, and legal representation. Students of transnational labour law of a certain generation cut their teeth on great debates about “offshoring” and the disintegrative risks to labour standards posed by capital mobility. The Heller case is an important reminder that we are now in an era of juridical mobility: employing entities seek to escape national labour law systems without the cost and inconvenience of spatial mobility.’
Oxford Human Rights Hub, 19th July 2020
Source: ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk
‘A five-year battle over the status and rights of Uber drivers reaches the supreme court in a case that lawyers believe has the potential to transform the gig economy in Britain.’
The Guardian, 21st July 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Minicab drivers will launch a legal bid to uncover secret computer algorithms used by Uber to manage their work in a test case that could increase transparency for millions of gig economy workers across Europe.’
The Guardian, 20th July 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘A few weeks before the lockdown, one of the most important UK labour law cases of the last decade was heard by the Supreme Court. Royal Mencap Society v Tomlinson Blake has not attracted the attention paid to the Uber litigation, also to reach the Supreme Court later this year. Yet Mencap will have significant ramifications for a segment of the British workforce at the front line of the coronavirus response, namely care workers.’
Oxford Human Rights Hub, 27th April 2020
Source: ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk
‘Claims concerning credit hire charges appear before the courts on a daily basis. It is vital for litigators in this field to be familiar with the decision of the High Court of Justice in late 2019, in Humayum Hussain v EUI Limited [2019] EWHC 2647 (QB); [2019] 10 WLUK 152, (‘Hussain’). The principles detailed in the judgment are applicable to self-employed drivers, including but not limited to, chauffeurs, delivery drivers and hauliers.’
KCH Garden Sq, 7th February 2020
Source: kchgardensquare.co.uk
‘In Neil Carroll v Michael Taylor, Michael Doyle, Emms Taxis Limited & QBE Insurance (Europe) Limited [2020] EWHC 153 QB the facts were relatively straightforward; Mr Carroll hailed a black cab driven by the First Defendant and owned by the Second Defendant after a night out drinking. Rather than taking him home, the First Defendant firstly stole his debit card (in fact swopping it for the debit card he had stolen from a previous fare) and then secondly when the First Defendant asked him to stop so he could get cash out, watched as the First Defendant (presumably repeatedly) put in his pin number, not realising that his attempt to obtain cash was doomed to failure as he was using somebody else’s card. Having thus obtained his pin number, the First Defendant then drove away leaving Mr Carroll stranded (and indeed within a short period of time removed £220 from Mr Carroll’s account with the ill-gotten card and pin number).’
Park Square Barristers, 31st January 2020
Source: www.parksquarebarristers.co.uk
‘An Uber driver caught on camera carrying passengers holding a ladder out of the window of his car has had his licence suspended.’
BBC News, 16th January 2020
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘Black cab rapist John Worboys has been handed two life sentences with a minimum term of six years for attacking four more women.’
BBC News, 17th December 2019
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘The Court of Appeal has dismissed a council’s appeal over whether it acted unlawfully when it resolved to fix the fees for vehicle licences for taxis and private hire vehicles at an amount which included recovery of all or part of the cost of supervising the conduct of drivers licensed to drive such vehicles.’
Local Government Lawyer, 11th December 2019
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Cheltenham Borough Council has successfully prosecuted five drivers for unlawfully plying for hire during Cheltenham Festival 2019.’
Local Government Lawyer, 4th December 2019
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Outdated legislation and new technology have meant that councils are unable to take enforcement action against the rising number of unlicensed drivers operating in their area, the Local Government Association has warned.’
Local Government Lawyer, 1st November 2019
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘The court outlined the principles applying to self-employed drivers whom hire replacement vehicles whilst their own is off the road as a result of a road traffic accident. The true measure of loss is the loss of profit suffered whilst their own, damaged vehicle is reasonably off the road. Hire costs of replacement vehicles are prima facie recoverable, but where the cost of hire significantly exceeds the loss of profit, the court will ordinarily limit damages to the lost profit unless the claimant can establish that they had acted reasonably.’
Park Square Barristers, 24th October 2019
Source: www.parksquarebarristers.co.uk
‘A personal injury claimant who lied over whether he had credit cards which could have been used to pay for a replacement car, instead of credit hire, was fundamentally dishonest, the High Court has ruled.’
Litigation Futures, 17th October 2019
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
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