The Georgia high court has unanimously rejected a taxi industry suit arguing that the legalization of ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft, by undercutting the monopoly power of Atlanta taxi medallions and other legal entitlements, amounts to a taking for which the state owes them compensation [Nick Sibilla, Forbes]
Posts Tagged ‘taxis and ridesharing’
Judge puts hold on Seattle’s we-unionize-you law
A judge has enjoined, for now, Seattle’s we’ll-pick-a-union-for-Uber-drivers ordinance [Jon Weinberg/On Labor, earlier]
At Cato: laws making ridesharing drivers wait, and the N.C. bathroom compromise
I’ve got two new pieces up at Cato at Liberty:
1) Following an outcry, Nevada lawmakers have dropped a plan to hobble ridesharing services like Lyft and Uber by requiring that their drivers wait at least 15 minutes before picking up a fare. The bill had been backed by a taxi union that donates heavily to lawmakers: all must be brought down to the level of the slowest in the name of a level playing field!
2) No one’s willing to come out and say that the North Carolina bathroom compromise signed yesterday by Gov. Roy Cooper is actually pretty good. But it is.
Seattle: we’ll pick a union for Uber drivers
In 2015 the city of Seattle passed a unique law imposing a collective bargaining law on Uber drivers and giving the city itself the power to select a union to represent the drivers. It chose the Teamsters Union, which already represented (competing) taxi drivers. Like the federal law of collective bargaining agreements, the city law purports to take away individual drivers’ rights to reach other deals, whether or not they voted for the union. “The Teamsters are allied with Yellow Cab and pushed for the 2015 ordinance requiring union negotiations.” Litigation in both state and federal court seeks to set aside the law on multiple grounds including pre-emption, antitrust, and privacy violation. [Daniel Fisher] More: WSJ editorial today.
Rival lawyers battle over settlements for Uber drivers
Hey, who hired *these* drivers, anyway? “Another Uber Technologies Inc. lawsuit settlement is under siege, with warring lawyers for drivers again trying to tear the deal apart.” [Insurance Journal]
“Cheating Frenchman sues Uber for unmasking his mistress”
“An adulterous businessman in southern France is seeking damages of up to 45 million euros ($48 million) from Uber over his wife’s discovery of his extra-marital rides, his lawyer and a report said Friday.” According to the man, he once used his wife’s phone to arrange a ride, and although he logged the account off afterward, it continued to send her alerts that revealed his travel activities to incriminating effect. [France 24]
Labor and employment roundup
- “The Gathering Storm in State Pensions” [Cato Podcast with Peter Constant] “Los Angeles’ Pension Problem Is Sinking The City” [Scott Beyer]
- “DC’s Paid Family Leave Bucks the Trend — and Economics” [Ike Brannon, Cato]
- Federalist Society lawyers convention panel on gig economy moderated by Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Thomas Hardiman and with panelists Randel K. Johnson (U.S. Chamber), Bill Samuel (AFL-CIO), Mark Floyd (Uber), and Mark Brnovich (Attorney General, Arizona);
- “How to Avoid Discrimination in Hiring, While Complying with [Export Security Control] Laws” [Ashley Mendoza and Alfredo Fernandez via Daniel Schwartz]
- “The case for non-compete agreements” [David Henderson]
- “This economic reasoning is right/For Zero, not for Fifteen, should we fight.” A minimum wage sonnet [Sasha Volokh]
January 11 roundup
- Group letters by law professors opposing nominees should be treated with the respect due, normally zero [John McGinnis, Michael Krauss, Paul Caron/TaxProf with links to columns by Stephen Presser, Scott Douglas Gerber, and James Huffman]
- USA, courthouse to the world for compensation claims, even 100+ years later [Guardian on suit in Manhattan federal court by descendants of atrocities committed by Germans in what is now Namibia in early 1900s]
- Marvels of NYC tenant law: “Couple renting Chelsea pad hasn’t paid rent since 2010” [New York Post]
- Election results could mean 11th-hour save for embattled cause of consumer arbitration [Liz Kramer/Stinson Leonard Street LLP]
- Baltimore policing, family leave in Montgomery County, Uber/Lyft fingerprinting, getting money out of Howard County politics, and more in my latest Maryland policy roundup at Free State Notes;
- Speaking of ridesharing and regulation: “Without Uber or Lyft, Austin Experiences Skyrocketing DUI Rates” [Brittany Hunter, FEE]
Workplace roundup
- The proportion of jobs requiring a license has risen from roughly 5 percent in the 1950s to 25 percent now, and why that matters [Edward Rodrigue and Richard V. Reeves, Brookings] Signs of bipartisan agreement that occupational licensing has gone too far [J.D. Tuccille, Reason] And surprisingly or not, it’s emerged as an Obama administration cause [Matt Yglesias, Vox]
- “25 quick takes (no kidding!) on the EEOC’s proposed national origin guidance” [Robin Shea]
- “Trial lawyers’ pecuniary interests have shifted our focus toward termination decisions, instead of hiring and promotion practices” [Merrily Archer]
- Is it lawful to move full-time employees to part-time work to avoid ObamaCare mandates? [Jon Hyman, related]
- Florida Supreme Court decision spells Christmas for workers’ comp lawyers, and insurers proceed to file 17 percent rate increase, so everyone’s happy [Insurance Journal]
- “Uber and the gig economy’s existential litigation threat” [Alison Frankel] Labor union grip on state legislature imperils benefits of sharing economy [Steven Greenhut]
Let me stay in your apartment, or be prepared to show a good reason
Lawyers and law profs are ginning up theories to sue for discrimination when individuals turn down AirBnB renters [Washington Post; related on AirBnB yielding to pressure to toughen anti-discrimination rules]