Uber Drivers Get Their Day In Court

The intersection of mandatory arbitration clauses and class proceedings continues to be a vexing problem for the courts. In Heller v. Uber Technologies Inc., the first decision of 2019, the Ontario Court of Appeal decided that a mandatory arbitration clause in an Uber Eats services agreement constitutes an impermissible contracting out of the Employment Standards Act, 2000, and is unconscionable, and therefore invalid.

The plaintiff is an Uber Eats driver in Toronto. He entered into a services agreement with Uber that required mandatory arbitration in Amsterdam under the International Chamber of Commerce Rules of Arbitration. The plaintiff commenced a class action seeking a declaration that he and other class members are employees of Uber, not independent contractors (and thus, entitled to benefits such as minimum wages, vacation pay, and overtime pay). The motion judge stayed the claim under the Ontario Arbitration Act, 1991, finding that the plaintiff voluntarily