Uber, Lyft Driver Status Fight Set for Two Massachusetts Courts

The business models for Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. face dueling tests in Massachusetts state courts, one case challenging drivers’ treatment as independent contractors and another determining whether a ballot measure to affirm that contractor status goes before voters in November.

The state attorney general’s 2020 lawsuit against the multibillion-dollar companies asks a judge to declare that drivers are employees subject to Massachusetts’s wage laws, which are some of the strictest in the country. That would require Uber and Lyft to pay drivers minimum wage and overtime, and offer sick leave. The multi-week trial begins May 13.

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