(RepublicanPress.org) – Uber Technologies, Inc. took the world by storm shortly after its 2010 launch. A recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing indicated that the San Francisco-based transportation company has since expanded to “approximately 70 countries” globally, spanning all seven continents. However, the company’s success has met its fair share of resistance. The alternative taxi service recently agreed to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in an Australian class-action suit.
On March 18, international law firm Maurice Blackburn Lawyers (MBL) issued a brief statement on its website confirming that the firm reached a roughly $178 million (272 million Australian dollars) settlement with Uber, the fifth-highest class action award in Australian history. The judge overseeing the case had scheduled the trial to begin later that day in the Supreme Court of Victoria, the country’s southernmost state.
What an outstanding victory for taxi drivers wronged by Uber’s blatant disregard for the law and for basic fairness. And another great win for @YouCanCountOnMB. Uber to pay $272 million to Australian taxi operators https://t.co/ruJy01coVl
— Jim Stanford (@JimboStanford) March 17, 2024
MBL filed the class action suit in 2019 on behalf of lead plaintiff Nick Andrianakis, a Melbourne taxi driver. Since then, the number of plaintiffs has reached more than 8,000 taxi operators and hired car drivers. The lawsuit claimed transport company drivers and car owners lost income and suffered other financial losses after Uber entered the Australian market in 2012.
Court records also alleged that Uber knew it was operating illegally because it understood that its drivers weren’t properly licensed to carry fares and lacked other required accreditation. Maurice Blackburn principal Michael Donelly also claimed the company “engaged in a variety [of] shocking conduct,” including “geo-blocking authorities” and misleading regulators. Additionally, the lawsuit accused Uber of activating “an electronic kill switch to disrupt” law enforcement operators executing a “search warrant.”
Maurice Blackburn, MBL’s lead attorney in the suit, told reporters that Uber “fought tooth and nail” at every juncture for five years to deny the plaintiffs “any form of remedy or compensation” for their massive financial losses. Continuing, he explained that “Uber has blinked” and “thousands” of working-class Australians “joined together to stare down a global giant.
Maurice Blackburn’s notice advised that the judge overseeing the case still needed to approve the settlement agreement. “Work is [currently] underway on that process,” MBL concluded.
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