Congdon v Uber

Welcome to the Information Website for the Congdon v. Uber Technologies Action.

This website was established to provide information about the class action lawsuit, Congdon, et al. v. Uber Technologies, Inc., et al., Case No. 4:16-cv-02499-YGR (the “Action”), which is now pending in the District Court of the Northern District of California (the “Court”).

The Action alleges that Uber improperly extracted an amount equal to a fee—which Uber called a “Safe Rides Fee”—on minimum-fare rides. Plaintiffs further contended that by improperly taking an amount equal to such a fee from Drivers’ fares, Uber breached its contract with Drivers and caused them financial harm. Uber denied that its implementation of the Safe Rides Fee was improper or caused Drivers any financial harm.

On March 8, 2018, the Court granted summary judgment in favor of the Drivers, determining that Uber’s acts amounted to a breach of the parties’ contracts and conversion under California law. Accordingly, each member of the Class defined below is now entitled to recover the difference between the minimum fare and the actual fare due to the application of the “Safe Rides Fees,” minus Uber’s then-prevailing percentage service fee that Drivers would have owed to Uber under the parties’ contracts for those fares once final judgment is entered.

On September 10, 2018, the parties filed a stipulation whereby the parties agreed that the certified class would be entitled to damages in the amount of approximately $1.4 million, consistent with the Court’s previous orders, plus approximately $450,000 in simple interest running at a rate of 10% from the date of each Safe Rides Fee and ending upon entry of judgment.

The Court has decided that the following people are members of the Class:

(A) A person in the United States who (B) entered the 2013 Agreement, the June 2014 Agreement, or the November 2014 Agreement¹, or a combination of those agreements; (C) opted-out of arbitration under the last Uber driver contract the person executed; and (D) provided at least one UberX minimum fare ride before November 16, 2015, then you may be a member of the Class and your legal rights may be affected by this Action.

Your legal rights are affected whether you act or do not act.

Your legal rights and options at this stage

Do nothing	If you fall within the definition of the Class set forth above, you are a member of the Class. IF YOU WISH TO REMAIN A MEMBER OF THE CLASS, YOU DO NOT NEED TO DO ANYTHING AT THIS TIME. As a Class Member, you will be bound by the judgment, whether favorable or unfavorable, in this Action. Thus, you may participate in any monetary settlement or judgment rendered in favor of the Class. At this time, although summary judgment has been entered in favor of the Class, no enforceable judgment has yet been entered in favor of the class. If judgment is entered and Uber decides not to appeal, you will receive a check for your share of the judgment. If the judgment is appealed, your payment will be postponed pending resolution of the appeal. You will not have the further opportunity to seek exclusion from the Class at any other time. In other words, this may be your only chance to opt out of the lawsuit. Any Class Member who does not request exclusion from the Class may enter an appearance through his or her own counsel at her or his own expense.
Opt-out of the lawsuit	If you wish to be excluded from the Class, meaning to opt-out of the lawsuit, you must submit a request for exclusion in accordance with the instructions in the next paragraph. If you choose to be excluded: (1) you will NOT be entitled to share in any recovery from any settlement or judgment that may be paid to members of the Class; (2) you will NOT be bound by any judgment or release entered in this lawsuit; and (3) at your own expense, you MAY pursue any claims that you have by filing your own lawsuit or taking other action. To be excluded, you must send a written request for exclusion following the instructions in FAQ 7. Your request must be received by June 1, 2019. After that date, you may not have the right to be excluded from the Class. In order to be valid, any request for exclusion must (1) include your full name, address, and email and telephone number associated with your Driver account with Uber; (2) explicitly state your desire to be excluded from the Class in the Uber Safe Rides Fee Litigation; and (3) be signed by you. Only request exclusion if you do NOT wish to participate in the Class Action and do NOT wish to share in any recovery that the Class may obtain.

¹ Part (B) refers to Uber’s 2013 Transportation Provider Service Agreement, Uber’s June 2014 Rasier Software Sublicense & Online Services Agreement, and Uber’s November 2014 Software License and Online Services Agreement.