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Uber CEO Faces Class-Action Lawsuit Over Price Fixing (engadget.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the all-about-the-money dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Engadget: Uber CEO Travis Kalanick will go to court over price fixing claims after he initially tried to get the lawsuit dismissed. U.S. district court judge in New York ruled Kalanick has to face the class of passengers alleging that he conspired with drivers to set fares using an algorithm, including hiking rates during peak hours with so-called surge pricing. According to Reuters, district court judge Jed Rakoff ruled the plaintiffs "plausibly alleged a conspiracy" to fix pricing and that the class action could also pursue claims the set rates led to the demise [of] other services, like Sidecar.

5 of 95 comments (clear)

  1. While Uber has definitely engaged... by Type44Q · · Score: 3, Insightful

    While Uber has definitely engaged in some questionable behavior, this isn't it... and IMHO isn't likely to go very far at all, even in New York.

    1. Re: While Uber has definitely engaged... by TheRaven64 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Presumably they are free to set their own prices if working independently, but then they wouldn't be covered by Uber's insurance or booked via their app. I think the problem is likely to boil down to Uber's desire to have the drivers treated as independent contractors. 'CEO conspires with employees to set the price for services' isn't something that would make the news, it's what companies do. But if Uber is trying to pitch itself (to avoid being regulated as a taxi company) as a simple matchmaking service that pairs customers with independent drivers then also setting prices makes it look a lot more like a company that's offering a taxi service.

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      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    2. Re: While Uber has definitely engaged... by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Do taxi drivers have the capability to set their own rates, or are all the ones working for the same company colluding and charging the same rate?

      Neither. The prices are fixed by law. Price fixing is not illegal if the government does it.

    3. Re:While Uber has definitely engaged... by whoever57 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Perhaps the real purpose of this lawsuit is to put Uber into the position of recognizing that its drivers are not "independent contractors".

      Uber is probably going to attempt some kind of "Schrodinger's driver", where the drivers are simultaneously both contractors and employees.

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      The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
  2. Independent Contractors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Employees of a single company, by definition, can't collude to fix prices. But independent contractors sure can.

    Looks like that whole "uber drivers are independent contractors not employees" thing has a lot of unintended consequences that aren't anywhere near as beneficial for Uber as they assumed.