Supreme Court backs Uber drivers in decision on $400M class action lawsuit

Canada’s highest court has allowed a proposed $400-million class-action lawsuit against Uber to proceed today after it issued a decision that sides with the UberEats driver who launched the legal claim.

In an eight to one decision, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that drivers can have labour issues resolved through Ontario courts, opening up the possibility of Uber drivers being seen as employees within the meaning of Ontario’s Employment Standards Act.

In response to the court’s findings, Lior Samfiru, an employment lawyer in Toronto at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP and legal counsel for plaintiff David Heller in Heller v. Uber Technologies Inc., said that “we cannot have a system where companies can do whatever they want, whenever they want, without any repercussions.”

“The only way that we can even balance that inequality somehow is by giving individuals access to tribunals, like the labour relations board, or to our courts across the country.”

Read more about the decision and its potential impact on the gig economy in Canada via CBC News.