GoKawiilLyft to pay $272.5 million settling California driver misclassification suit
Lyft has agreed to pay $272.5 million to settle a May 2020 lawsuit brought by California Attorney General Rob Bonta alleging the company misclassified drivers as contractors instead of employees. Pending court approval, at least $237 million will go toward back pay for minimum wage and benefits owed to drivers who worked between April 2016 and December 2020. Uber, which was named in the same lawsuit, has not yet reached a settlement.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
The payout closes a legal chapter tied to Assembly Bill 5, which briefly required gig companies to treat drivers as employees before Prop 22 restored contractor status in 2020. The settlement suggests California regulators are still pursuing pre-Prop 22 liability even though the measure itself has since been upheld by the state's top court. Uber's unresolved exposure in the same case could mean a similarly large settlement or continued litigation ahead.
- Lyft will pay $272.5 million, with $237M+ earmarked for driver back pay and benefits.
- The claims cover driving activity between April 2016 and December 2020, before Prop 22 took effect.
- Uber remains a defendant in the same lawsuit, with its portion still unresolved.
Source: engadget.com — Ian Carlos Campbell, 2026-10-02
Published there as: “Lyft agrees to pay $272.5 million to settle worker classification lawsuit”
Read the original report → The summary and analysis above are GoKawiil's own, written from reporting by the source above. Facts and quotes belong to the original publisher.