NYC judge blocks pay raises for rideshare drivers after Uber lawsuit
A Manhattan judge blocked a planned pay increase for rideshare drivers after Uber sued the city Taxi and Limousine Commission to stop the hike from going into effect.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron found the TLC didn’t properly explain how it arrived at the particular number for the raise, as is legally required, while also acknowledging the drivers “deserved the boost,” according to a written decision from Monday.
The increase would have increased drivers’ minimum wages from the 2019 rates by 7.42% per minute and 23.93% per mile in order to match inflation.
It was set to take effect Dec. 19 before Uber filed suit, claiming the raise would have forced it to shell out an additional $21 million to $23 million per month or raise rider fares by 10%.
Engoron temporarily blocked the pay increase later that month. Hundreds of Big Apple for-hire drivers then went on strike to protest Uber on Dec. 19.
The judge ultimately ruled that the TLC had failed to explain why it chose the inflation indexes and time frame it did to calculate the pay boost.
The commission also didn’t give “a single mathematical computation explaining how it arrived at its numbers,” Engoron’s decision reads.
Engoron encouraged the TLC to provide a new explanation that is backed by “concrete numerical examples” that “the ride service drivers themselves can understand.”
The judge said he “sympathizes with the plight” of the drivers “whose deserved raise is being held up by a legal technicality not of their own making.”
New York Taxi Worker Alliance executive director Bhairavi Desai told The Post Tuesday she hopes the TLC appeals the decision and reworks the pay hike “immediately.”
“Drivers really can’t wait much longer,” Desai said. “We plan to continue with our strikes until the raise is in the drivers’ pockets.”
A spokesperson for Uber said they “welcome” Engoron’s ruling.
“It is important that the TLC’s reasoning be transparent and understandable because that is what best benefits drivers, riders, businesses and the public,” the statement says. “The TLC rules continue to provide for an adjustment tied to the rate of inflation that Uber supports.”
TLC Commissioner David Do said: “The written ruling makes it clear that this is a technical delay, not a defeat.
“We’re considering all options, including a more detailed rule as the judge recommends, to strengthen this critical pay standard for the city’s hardworking drivers as soon as possible.”
