Lawsuit on status of Lyft drivers may be able to proceed

A new federal lawsuit claiming Lyft drivers are illegally misclassified as independent contractors rather than employees has a chance of surviving because the plaintiff opted out of the arbitration agreement, according to the attorney who filed the suit.

Shannon Liss-Riordan, a Boston attorney who has sued Lyft, Uber and a number of other companies, alleges their army of independent contractors should be employees and entitled to overtime and benefits. According to the complaint filed last week, plaintiff Eric Wickberg has driven for Lyft for a year, and has at times made less than minimum wage.

Liss-Riordan filed a similar suit in 2015. That case was dismissed and is now pending appeal after a judge found the plaintiffs had agreed to binding, private, arbitration and had given up the ability to file suit.

Nearly every one of these cases has instead turned into a legal argument over the validity of arbitration agreements workers agree to when they begin. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court weighed in on arbitration agreements, finding they are enforceable.

But, Liss-Riordan said, Wickberg opted out of the agreement when he began driving.

“He has worked as a Lyft driver in Massachusetts since approximately September 2017,” the complaint says. “Mr. Wickberg ‘opted out’ of Lyft’s arbitration clause. He thus asserts that he can represent a class of Lyft drivers in court.”

That difference means the case is likely to progress farther than other similar cases, which have generally been dismissed before the legal arguments have been heard.

Lyft did not respond to a request for comment.