Uber

GOVERNOR SIGNS BILL TO EXEMPT MANY INDEPENDENT WORKERS FROM AB 5

Update September 5, 2020 : Governor Gavin Newsom has signed this bill into law. It takes effect immediately as an emergency measure.
 
By Miriam Raftery
 
September 3, 2020 (Sacramento) – A bill to exempt many occupations from AB 5, California’s controversial new employment law, and allow those exempted to work as independent contractors instead of employees, has passed the Legislature overwhelmingly. Governor Gavin Newsom is expected to sign the measure, AB 2257, into law. If signed, it would take effect immediately as an urgency measure. View full text of AB 2257.
 
The trouble began in 2018 when the state Supreme Court’s decision in the Dynamex case imposed a strict new test of employment status in California’s burgeoning gig economy.  AB 5, authored by Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego), sought to codify the court ruling but went farther, requiring that a broad range of freelancers and independent contractors be treated as employees eligible for benefits ranging from unemployment to medical care.
 
AB 5 triggered a backlash of criticism from many freelancers whose income and flexibility were severely impacted, including musicians, writers, translators and many others walloped first by AB 5, and then by the COVID-19 pandemic and shutdown.

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UBER DRIVER SENTENCED TO 80 YEARS FOR RAPES

 

By Miriam Raftery

November 15, 2017 (El Cajon) – An El Cajon judge has sentenced John David Sanchez, a former Uber driver, to over 80 years in prison after Sanchez pled guilty to 34 counts of raping or sexually assaulting nine unconscious women and teenage girls as young as 13.  Superior Court Judge Evan Kirvin called Sanchez a sexual predator.

But according to a law firm specializing in sexual assaults committed by ride-share drivers including Uber and Lyft, such crimes are far from rare. 


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ASSEMBLY PASSES BILL TO BOOST TIPS FOR UBER AND LYFT DRIVERS

 

By Miriam Raftery

May 31, 2017 (Sacramento) – If you’re hailing a ride through a service such as Uber or Lyft, you may soon have an option to add a tip onto your credit card charge. A measure requiring ride-serving aps that take credit card payments to offer an option to add a tip passed the Assembly today by a 41-22 vote.  The measure, Assembly Bill 1099, was authored by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego).


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JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE RECEIVES $70,000 FOR NEW SENIOR TRANSPORTATION SERVICE

 

Funds to support “Navigator,” Uber/Lyft access for seniors without smartphones

East County News Service

March 13, 2017 (San Diego) -- Jewish Family Service of San Diego (JFS) has been awarded $70,000 by the San Diego Foundation’s Age Friendly Communities Program to help improve the quality of life for older adults in San Diego through On the Go Navigator – a new addition to JFS’s existing On the Go program.


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EL CAJON POLICE CHARGE FORMER UBER DRIVER WITH 5 MORE SEXUAL ASSAULTS, INCLUDING RAPE OF A 13-YR. OLD

 

East County News Service

May 25, 2016 (El Cajon) – An Uber driver arrested for sexual assault in El Cajon in March now faces charges as a serial rapist. 

El Cajon Police have charged John David Sanchez, 52, with sexually assaulting five additional victims, including raping a 13-year-old child and raping an unconscious person.  Authorities believe those attacks occurred between 2011 and 2014 at Sanchez’s residence in San Diego.


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UBER DRIVER ARRESTED FOR SEXUALLY ASSAULTING PASSENGER IN EL CAJON

 

By Miriam Raftery

March 30, 2016 (El Cajon) – El Cajon Police announced the arrest yesterday of John David Sanchez, 52, on felony assault charges. Sanchez, an Uber driver, is accused of sexually assaulting a female passenger in late February. 


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Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.