Lyft will pay $272.5 million to settle California driver wage theft claims

Lyft

01/10/2026 16:50

By Daniel Wiessner
Oct 1 (Reuters) - Lyft LYFT.O has agreed to pay $272.5 million to settle claims by the state of California and three of its largest cities that the company mislabeled drivers as independent contractors rather than its employees to save money.
Lyft, Uber and other app-based services that rely on "gig workers" have been fighting worker misclassification claims for more than a decade
Contractors are not owed minimum wage, overtime, and other protections under federal and state laws
California sued Lyft in 2021, as did Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego
The cases were merged with lawsuits brought on behalf of thousands of Lyft drivers
The settlement, subject to court approval, covers alleged violations between April 2016 and December 2020
Lyft in a statement said drivers have always been properly classified under the law and “we're glad to put this case behind us”
It is the largest settlement involving wage theft claims in California history, according to the state Labor Commissioner's Office
Lyft and Uber in 2023 jointly agreed to pay $328 million to settle similar claims by New York's attorney general

 (Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and David Gregorio)
 ((daniel.wiessner@thomsonreuters.com))