Lyft agrees to $272.5 million settlement in California driver lawsuit

Lyft has agreed to pay $272.5 million to resolve California’s lawsuit alleging it misclassified drivers as independent contractors from 2016 through 2020, denying them minimum-wage, overtime, expense-reimbursement and other workplace protections. The settlement, which still requires court approval, reserves about $237 million for eligible drivers, whose payments will be calculated based on hours and miles driven during the covered period; some could receive as much as $20,000. California officials called it a major recovery for workers, while Lyft said it believes its drivers were properly classified and argued that voters’ approval of Proposition 22 affirmed drivers’ preference for independent-contractor status and flexibility. The agreement does not require Lyft to reclassify drivers as employees and covers alleged violations before Proposition 22 took effect.