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Uber drivers, if employees, owed $730 million more: U.S. court papers
Drivers who worked for ride-hailing service Uber in California and Massachusetts over the past seven years would have been entitled to an estimated $730 million in expense reimbursements had they been employees rather than contractors, according to court documents. According to attorneys for Uber drivers, the total potential damages in the case are $852 million, when including a claim to recover tips. The figure is based on rates for mileage reimbursement set by the U.S. government and on data provided by Uber Technologies Inc.
Ride-hailing services raise questions about safety
In many parts of the country - and indeed, around the world - a ride-booking service is as close and easy to use as launching an app on a smartphone. But after nearly unimpeded growth in an industry that didn't exist a decade ago, around 30 U.S. jurisdictions have passed new ride-hailing regulatory legislation, all in the hopes of making services like Uber and Lyft safer for passenger use. 
Uber faces possibility that four largest American cities will require fingerprinting of its drivers
New York and Houston already require fingerprinting. Now Austin has joined the ranks, and Chicago and Los Angeles could follow suit. One of Uber's core messages in the Austin, Texas, referendum on ride-hailing over the weekend was that New York City and Houston, Texas, which already fingerprint the corporations' drivers, are mere "outliers" in requiring such. 
Fired Seattle police officer being investigated for unlawfully imprisoning his Uber passenger
A former Seattle police officer is being investigated after he was accused of unlawful imprisonment by a passenger in an Uber he was driving. The officer, whom Q13 News isn't naming because he hasn't been charged, was fired by the Seattle Police Department last year after an investigation found he made unwanted advances on several women he met during the course of investigations. 
Woman escapes terrifying Uber ride by jumping from moving vehicle
An Uber ride turned into a terrifying ordeal for one KC woman that ended when she jumped out of a moving car. The nightmare began at the Caddy Shack in Columbus Park, when Margot Thompson called an Uber to head toward West Plaza to visit a friend. "My intuition ticked. I realized we were heading the East Bottoms to a more remote industrial area. At this point, this man could've turned around several times," she said. When the driver crossed Guinotte & Lydia, Thompson said she tucked and rolled out of the moving car.
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1 Hospitalized After Crash Involving Uber Driver in Hollywood
One person was hospitalized after an Uber driver allegedly hit a pedestrian, then rammed into another car in Hollywood. Kirk Hawkins reports from Hollywood for KTLA 5 News.
Uber driver accused of Gold Coast cabbie attack
A Gold Coast Uber driver has been charged after allegedly deliberately running over a taxi driver rival and leaving him for dead. The 33-year-old Broadbeach man allegedly ran into the man in a black Holden Cruze as he stood by his cab at Surfers Paradise. Surveillance footage shows the man being sent cartwheeling into the air at speed and left sprawled on the ground.
Airport shuttle drivers ruled to be employees, not contractors
Six former American Airporter shuttle drivers who, after years of ferrying passengers to San Francisco International Airport for less than minimum wage as independent contractors, won a labor dispute this month with a decision that affirmed they were, in fact, employees eligible for full benefits and wages.
Uber hit with new 'safe rides' suit
A new class action against Uber Technologies Inc. says it will test the bounds of the company's claim to be solely a "technology services provider." The suit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California alleges that Uber took money from drivers' pockets that it had no right to claim as a passive technology platform. The challenge centers on how Uber charged its "safe ride fee," now called a "booking fee."
Lyft agrees to revised $27 million deal in driver lawsuit
Lyft has agreed to pay $27 million to settle a class action lawsuit brought by California drivers who claimed they should be deemed employees instead of independent contractors, after a U.S. judge rejected a previous $12.25 million deal as too small. 
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