DHKL, along with co-counsel Desai Law Firm, represents Plaintiff Erik Adolph in his Labor Code Private Attorney General Act (“PAGA”) representative action against Uber and UberEATS for misclassifying him and other Uber drivers as independent contractors, instead of employees. Their suit is coordinated with similar cases filed by the California Attorney General and the San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego City Attorneys, along with another lawsuit against Uber by its drivers – all currently pending in San Francisco Superior Court before Judge Ethan Schulman.

On July 17, 2023, Plaintiff won an important victory in the California Supreme Court, with the help of appellate counsel Altshuler Berzon. In Adolph v. Uber Technologies, the California Supreme Court unanimously held in our client’s case that a plaintiff compelled to arbitrate individual claims under PAGA does not forfeit standing to litigate non-individual claims in court. This ruling came a year after the US Supreme Court ruled in Viking River Cruises, Inc. v. Moriana that under the Federal Arbitration Act employers may compel their employees to arbitrate individual PAGA claims and seek dismissal in court of any remaining non-individual PAGA claims for others based on lack of standing. The California Supreme Court declined to follow Viking River because the issue was one of California law and interpreting California law is ultimately a question for the California, not U.S., Supreme Court.