Uber announced it plans to hire a further 2
0,000 drivers by the end of next year
The firm has reported a more than 50 per cent increase in trips across the UK
Recruitment drive will boost the group s driver network to 90,000 in country
App Drivers & Couriers Union said move will lead to rising urban congestion
Uber ordered to reinstate six drivers fired by automated process
A default judgment handed down by Dutch court has ordered Uber to reinstate six drivers with compensation following unevidenced accusations of fraud and automated firing via algorithm
Share this item with your network: By Published: 15 Apr 2021 16:30
Ride-hailing firm Uber has been ordered by an Amsterdam court to reinstate five British drivers and one Dutch driver with compensation after finding that they were unlawfully dismissed for fraud by the app’s algorithm.
The drivers involved in the case – which was brought by the App Drivers & Couriers Union (ADCU) and its associated data trust Worker Info Exchange (WEI) – argued that they had been wrongly accused of fraudulent activity because of mistaken information, which led to them being fired by Uber’s algorithm.
First published on Wed 14 Apr 2021 13.12 EDT
Uber has been ordered to reinstate five British drivers who were struck off from its ride-hailing app by robot technology.
The five drivers, backed by the App Drivers & Couriers Union (ADCU) and the campaign group Worker Info Exchange, argued that they had been wrongly accused of fraudulent activity based on mistaken information from Uber’s technology, and that the company had failed to provide the drivers with proper evidence to support the allegations.
In a judgment published on Wednesday, the district court of Amsterdam – where Uber’s European headquarters is located – said the ride-hailing app should reinstate the five British drivers, and one Dutch driver, because the decisions had been “based solely on automated processing, including profiling”. The judgment was made by default, as Uber did not attend the hearing; the company said it had been unaware of the legal action until last week.
Uber accused him of sharing his account. He insists he didn’t.
Uber informed Abdifatah he was being “deactivated” on 27th September because of “evidence indicating fraudulent application activity”. Uber didn’t provide any evidence to support the decision and still hasn’t.
Uber reported his dismissal to Transport for London. On 13th October, TFL informed Abdifatah he was no longer considered “fit and proper” to hold a private hire licence and he was ordered to return it.
“I’ve lost all my income because of what they did to me,” Abdifatah told ITV News.
“I lost my Uber job, I lost my job with Kapten, with Bolt, I lost all my mini-cabbing. When they shut you down everywhere, then you feel you are in a dark place. There is nothing you can do because you are hopeless, you feel helpless”.
Uber hit with default ‘robo-firing’ ruling after another EU labor rights GDPR challenge
Labor activists challenging Uber over what they allege are ‘robo-firings’ of drivers in Europe have trumpeted winning a default judgement in the Netherlands where the Court of Amsterdam ordered the ride-hailing giant to reinstate six drivers who the litigants claim were unfairly terminated “by algorithmic means.”
The court also ordered Uber to pay the fired drivers compensation.
The challenge references Article 22 of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which provides protection for individuals against purely automated decisions with a legal or significant impact.
The activists say this is the first time a court has ordered the overturning of an automated decision to dismiss workers from employment.