# How Uber's Shady Firing Policy Could Backfire On The Company



## UberComic (Apr 17, 2014)

*How Uber's Shady Firing Policy Could Backfire On The Company*

*http://www.forbes.com/sites/ellenhuet/2014/10/30/uber-driver-firing-policy/*


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## grams777 (Jun 13, 2014)

[T]he fact that a certain amount of freedom of action is inherent in the nature of the work does not change the character of the employment where the employer has general supervision and control over it.
...
Perhaps the strongest evidence of the right to control is whether the hirer can discharge the worker without cause, because ―[t]he power of the principal to terminate the services of the agent gives him the means of controlling the agent's activities.
...
Significantly, what matters under the common law is not how much control a hirer exercises, but how much control the hirer retains the right to exercise.
...
Whether a right of control exists may be measured by asking, whether or not, if instructions were given, they would have to be obeyed on pain of at-will discharge for disobedience.
...
the rights spelled out in a contract may not be conclusive if other evidence demonstrates a practical allocation of rights at odds with the written terms.​http://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/S206874.PDF
(Pages 6-12)


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## Worcester Sauce (Aug 20, 2014)

UberComic said:


> *How Uber's Shady Firing Policy Could Backfire On The Company*
> 
> *http://www.forbes.com/sites/ellenhuet/2014/10/30/uber-driver-firing-policy/*


...this is a great post...thank you.


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## OCX DRIVER (Jun 9, 2014)

Great article, hope everyone has signed up at uberlawsuit.com


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## Sanjay (Oct 31, 2014)

This is a very timely article on Uber's deactivation policy. I had been an UberTaxi Driver in Chicago since the beginning of 2013. I was deactivated last Friday 10/24/2014.

The reason given was "Low Acceptance Rate". This came out of the blue as Uber_CHI has never listed that any Acceptance Rate threshold needed to be met! I was given no prior warning that low Acceptance Rate could lead to deactivation. In fact my Partnership Agreement says "...Drivers also retain the option to accept or reject each request for transportation received via the Driver App".










The Number 1 UberTaxi complaint has been Drivers cancelling orders en route to pickup street hails.










But Uber_CHI never addressed this problem, but exploited it to promote UberX! In fact cancelling orders is a breach of the Agreement and can result in deactivation.








I never cancelled to pickup street hails. I prolly cancelled ~10 orders in 20 months, and only when the pickup address was inaccurate and I couldn't reach the Pax to confirm the address.

I have 4.74 lifetime Star Rating. These are some of the rider feedbacks I'd received:




































UberTaxi fares were ~30% of my total Fares. I've not yet given up on getting reinstated, and given a chance by Uber_CHI to improve my performance in any metrics that I maybe lagging in.
I am posting here to highlight the arbitrary nature of Uber's deactivation process.

PS: UberTaxi Partnership Agreement is a different contract than UberX Rasier Agreement.


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## Sanjay (Oct 31, 2014)

I found out about this forum through an excerpted hyperlink in the Forbes article.
I posted here in detail about the circumstances of my deactivation. But my post hasn't elicited any response from forum members! I wonder why that is? Is it because I was UberTaxi, and not UberX driver?
I find this very ironic and disheartening indeed, since the biggest champion of UberX drivers on the forum, @chi1cabby , is also an UberTaxi driver in Chicago!


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## KeJorn (Oct 3, 2014)

Sanjay said:


> Is it because I was UberTaxi, and not UberX driver?


No idea why others have not commented, though I doubt it is due to UberTaxi vs UberX.
I think the ONLY time there might be an issue, are with taxi drivers (non-Uber affiliated) vs Uber_Anything_ (X, XL, Black, SUV, UberTaxi even).
I think that would be the only case where members of this forum might ask, _'why are you here'_, etc.
Your case seems very similar to the issues mentioned in that article so it is definitely pertinent to any Uber driver.

At least you are receiving Rider Feedback and Week in Review summary emails. (nice job BTW)
I have not received any in quite some time (months) here in DFW.
PartnerSupport says they are working on the issue. Not sure why the problem affects our city only.


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## NightRider (Jul 23, 2014)

Sanjay said:


> I found out about this forum through an excerpted hyperlink in the Forbes article.
> I posted here in detail about the circumstances of my deactivation. But my post hasn't elicited any response from forum members! I wonder why that is? Is it because I was UberTaxi, and not UberX driver?
> I find this very ironic and disheartening indeed, since the biggest champion of UberX drivers on the forum, @chi1cabby , is also an UberTaxi driver in Chicago!


Glad you found the forum, welcome! I assume you have been emailing your local support team to try to get further info as to why no warning and asking to be reinstated? Sometimes it takes a few days for communications to make it to the appropriate people on the Uber side. Given the amount of positive history you are able to provide as evidence to how valued you are by passengers, I'd be surprised if you aren't reactivated with a similiar "Woops, don't know what happened but your account is fine now." kind of response from the big U.

Please keep us posted as things (hopefully) change! Good luck!


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## Sydney Uber (Apr 15, 2014)

Sanjay said:


> This is a very timely article on Uber's deactivation policy. I had been an UberTaxi Driver in Chicago since the beginning of 2013. I was deactivated last Friday 10/24/2014.
> 
> The reason given was "Low Acceptance Rate". This came out of the blue as Uber_CHI has never listed that any Acceptance Rate threshold needed to be met! I was given no prior warning that low Acceptance Rate could lead to deactivation. In fact my Partnership Agreement says "...Drivers also retain the option to accept or reject each request for transportation received via the Driver App".
> 
> ...


Clear case of the Uber "**** You" we are bigger, badder and better legally represented than anyone in this country.

We are all in such a ****ed up system that rewards entities that have the money to break existing laws. Huge companies can also swing their dicks to come crashing down on individuals with little risk of being challenged by our useless politicians and government agencies.


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## forkedover (Oct 26, 2014)

Forbes hates uber because they are backed by liberal democrats who want to keep raping immigrants for cab money.

Back in the 1840s the ny dems fought for black slavery, the only thing that's changed is now they want everyone to be slaves Dependant on there benign gifts.

I had some scummy Forbes reporter asking me all these questions about racist uber practices and all other nonsense so I let them out in a bad part of Chicago at night and said good luck with your crusade.

Not really because I didn't have enough gas to get there so I simply said its a free market for drivers to choose, I enjoy it and I use Forbes to line my cat box.


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## chi1cabby (May 28, 2014)

*Uber Must Hand Over Training, Terminating Docs to Drivers*


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## Tx rides (Sep 15, 2014)

Sanjay said:


> I found out about this forum through an excerpted hyperlink in the Forbes article.
> I posted here in detail about the circumstances of my deactivation. But my post hasn't elicited any response from forum members! I wonder why that is? Is it because I was UberTaxi, and not UberX driver?
> I find this very ironic and disheartening indeed, since the biggest champion of UberX drivers on the forum, @chi1cabby , is also an UberTaxi driver in Chicago!


I'm not very knowledgeable about the taxi arm of Uber. Isn't UberTaxi similar to the UberBlack model , using licensed taxis? @chi1cabby ?


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## chi1cabby (May 28, 2014)

Tx rides said:


> I'm not very knowledgeable about the taxi arm of Uber.


UberTaxi service is provided by licensed Cab Drivers, driving regulated & commercially insured Taxis. Uber has actively undermined UberTaxi ever since rolling UberX service.
More here:
*Uber, UberTaxi, UberX & Vulture Capitali$m*

*http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sc83ps*


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## Tx rides (Sep 15, 2014)

chi1cabby said:


> UberTaxi service is provided by licensed Cab Drivers, driving regulated & commercially insured Taxis. Uber has actively undermined UberTaxi ever since rolling UberX service.
> More here:
> *Uber, UberTaxi, UberX & Vulture Capitali$m*
> 
> *http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sc83ps*


I see-so very similar to the snow job on the Black cars . I just knew you'd have an informative response!!

I said "very similar" but it is probably worse due to the inflexible fare structure for taxis


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## ontheroad (Aug 31, 2014)

So, in a nutshell, are we drivers at liberty to pick and choose which fares to take?


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## chi1cabby (May 28, 2014)

ontheroad said:


> So, in a nutshell, are we drivers at liberty to pick and chose which fares to take?


*NO!*
Please closely read this thread to comprehend that Drivers are not free to operate on the Uber platform even under the terms that are spelled out in the Partnership Agreement.
Drivers better do as Uber tells em, or Uber can and will Deactivate them without notice, without citing a specific reason, or access to a review/appeals process.

https://uberpeople.net/threads/surge-manipulation-email.3733/


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## Sydney Uber (Apr 15, 2014)

ontheroad said:


> So, in a nutshell, are we drivers at liberty to pick and choose which fares to take?


We really arent given the necessary information to make a informed decision as to which fare to take.

I'd run hours out of town if the client or App told me where they were going to, to ensure it is a profitable run, and a guarantee that if the request was cancelled or cut short then the full cost of the original request is charged to the client.

Just like we've been taking bookings and billing for no-shows or changed requirements for decades.


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## Tx rides (Sep 15, 2014)

ontheroad said:


> So, in a nutshell, are we drivers at liberty to pick and choose which fares to take?


I guess, in a sense, you have as much liberty to except or reject a fare as a passenger has to except or reject a surge rate. In both cases, it can be argued that you have "non Uber " options:-( the problem is, with their crush-it-all approach, those options are going to disappear


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## KeJorn (Oct 3, 2014)

chi1cabby said:


> *Uber Must Hand Over Training, Terminating Docs to Drivers*


If the point of handing them over, is for the court to compare Uber policy and training to the claims made by the drivers, it would seem Uber could hand the court modified docs that do NOT support the driver's claims (information those drivers have never seen before)... so how will the court ensure this does not happen?


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## chi1cabby (May 28, 2014)

KeJorn said:


> If the point of handing them over, is for the court to compare Uber policy and training to the claims made by the drivers, it would seem Uber could hand the court modified docs that do NOT support the driver's claims (information those drivers have never seen before)... so how will the court ensure this does not happen?


That would be perjury. I'm sure the plaintiff's attorneys are semi capable.


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## KeJorn (Oct 3, 2014)

chi1cabby said:


> That would be perjury. I'm sure the plaintiff's attorneys are semi capable.


How would they know?
Hope that one of the drivers made screen shots of the training video or the policies Uber provided back then?
I bet the current versions have already been modified over the years.

I'm just saying, I know that when an "audit" was coming down the pipe, I know several companies that 'doctored' the books that they were going to hand over.


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## chi1cabby (May 28, 2014)

I would expect that this group of Drivers archived everything related to their "Partnership" with Uber. After all they are the ones who banded together and sought legal redress.


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## Lidman (Nov 13, 2014)

The cancellation policy of ubers still has me confused. I understand why they'd frown upon drivers with a high cancellation ratio. I guess the grey area is the justification on some of them. For example.. to me a just cause for cancellation (like pax lying about their pickup spot).....shouldn't be factored in. It just sounds like from what I've read on these boards is that the driver has to do a lot of work to justify a cancellation. It sounds like some of the riders will do anything to avoid a surge..Even if it's a small fare.

In a nutshell, if uber continues to fire drivers at will and others quitting, it'll will eventually catch up to them. It's going to get tougher and toughter recruiting new drivers. Potential new drivers aren't going to be as easily swayed by these (guanantee 30/hr or $1000 or whatever guarantee) etc that can easily be revoked due to some ambiguous wording in their disclaimers (T/a).

Sorry for the rant. LOL....


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