They will receive 17 to 20 million euros from the American company.
The company Uber has been condemned by the industrial tribunal of Lyon to pay some 17 million euros to 139 VTC drivers, announced Friday to AFP their lawyer, Me Stéphane Teyssier. “We had a pretty historic decision today. Uber was ordered to requalify the contracts of 139 drivers for an amount of 17 to 20 million euros“, he said, confirming information from the regional daily Le Progrès.
The Lyonnais Uber drivers had seized the prud’hommes to requalify the relationship which bound them into an employment contract. The prud’hommes, who rendered their decision under advisement, pronounced “based on well-established case law from the Court of Cassation of January 2020. The Court of Cassation found that Uber drivers should be considered as employees. It is not a surprise. It is the logical application of such case law“, estimated the lawyer.
Read alsoUber drivers requalified as employees in London
Contacted by AFP, Uber, without disclosing the amount of the sum it will have to pay, announced that it was going to appeal. “This decision goes against the position widely shared by industrial tribunals and courts of appeal which confirm the independence of VTC drivers using the application, judging in particular that there is no work obligation, nor exclusivity vis-à-vis Uber or that the drivers remain totally free in the organization of their activity“Commented a spokesperson, contacted by AFP.