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Over 1,900 Rideshare Drivers File Objections to Lyft’s $272.5 Million Settlement for Wage Theft - “Far Too Low” Say Drivers

Rideshare Drivers United members will attend a court hearing to demand a fair payout that reflects the harm hundreds of thousands of drivers suffered from years of driving.

Judge’s Remarks  from 10/23 acknowledge driver objections and asks attorneys to provide more information on the number of claimants and how much drivers would receive. 

WHAT: Drivers Objecting to Proposed Lyft Settlement will Attend Hearing on Case

WHERE: San Francisco Superior Court, 400 McAllister, Room 304

WHEN: October 29th, 2026, 10 AM

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — More than 1,900 rideshare drivers, members of Rideshare Drivers United (RDU), filed formal objections on October 20 to California’s recently proposed $272.5 million settlement with Lyft. Now, the drivers are mobilizing to attend the settlement hearing on Thursday, October 29, to urge the court to reject an agreement they say falls stunningly short of fairly compensating workers for tens of billions of dollars lost over years of alleged wage theft.

The proposed settlement, announced October 1 by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, the California Labor Commission, three cities, and other enforcement partners, is the largest wage-and-hour settlement involving a single employer in California history. At least $237 million is designated for driver restitution. But drivers whose wage claims helped bring this case forward argue that a record-breaking settlement does not reflect what they are actually owed.

“While this is a huge settlement, it is not huge when you consider the number of drivers and the amount stolen from them,” said RDU President, Nicole Moore, one of the original claimants and part-time Lyft driver. “Every penny we recover that goes into a drivers’ pocket is a victory, but it is not justice. The court must consider what individual workers are actually owed, how long they have already waited, and whether the settlement provides meaningful accountability.” 

“For what is probably more than 200,000 drivers, this is maybe 1% of what is actually owed - individual drivers are owed tens of thousands of dollars,” said Alvaro Bolainez, vice-president of Rideshare Drivers United, and a Lyft driver.

The $272.5 million agreement would resolve allegations that Lyft misclassified California drivers and denied them legally required wages and workplace protections during the period from 2016 through December 2020. At least $237 million is designated for driver restitution. 

RDU has asked that Judge Schulman reject the settlement and take the issue to trial. The current settlement requires no reparations beyond the compensation, such as requiring adequate compensation moving forward, or other improvements to drivers’ working conditions.  

Rideshare Drivers United organized the objection campaign through their website, generating more than 1,900 objections in a week. On October 20, RDU members delivered the objections in person to the court clerk. Drivers are now mobilizing to attend the October 29 hearing to demand a better payout. RDU is urging drivers and supporters to attend the October 29 hearing and stand with the workers who have spent years fighting for basic and fair compensation.

Excerpts from Drivers’ Objections : The written objections offer a firsthand account of the financial consequences drivers say they experienced while working for Lyft.

Kevin Morris, a five-star Lyft driver with more than 19,000 rides, described the personal toll of years of financial hardship:

“The consequences of this prolonged delay have been devastating. I have been forced to live in my vehicle, experienced eviction, and borrowed money from numerous family members to survive. Those debts remain unpaid, and the resulting financial strain has severely damaged my family relationships, leaving some relatives unwilling to maintain contact with me.

G.B.,  a full-time Los Angeles Lyft driver for nearly a decade, described the financial burden of operating expenses:

“Every month I had to earn at least $2000 for operational expenses before I made a penny of profit. Years of this combined with below minimum wage pay means I now have no emergency fund or retirement savings.

Tom (Hisaki) Shimizu, a former mechanic who turned to rideshare driving, described how financial hardship left him unable to afford essential dental care:

“As a result, when my teeth deteriorated further, I could not afford even to have them professionally extracted. I have had to pull out my own teeth with a pair of pliers, without anesthesia, because I could not afford the cost of dental treatment…This is the real human cost behind the numbers. I could have saved those teeth if I had been able to afford the necessary dental treatment. Now, I can no longer eat solid food properly. I need dental implants, but I cannot afford them.”

Cheikh Ndiaye, a rideshare driver, challenged the idea that workers should have to wait four years to receive full payment from the settlement: 

“Drivers cannot ask their landlords to wait four years for rent. We cannot tell our creditors, our utility companies, or our families that we will make things right over the next four years. Our bills came due while this case was pending. The financial pressure was real then, and it remains real today.” 

Jonathan Tipton Meyers, a ten-year rideshare driver with more than 35,000 rides and one of the original wage claimants, questioned whether the settlement offers sufficient relief to individual drivers.

“From what I’m estimating, this settlement payment would barely cover a week's groceries...Worse, it offers little accountability for a multibillion-dollar company that deprived drivers of wages for years.”

Additional Supporting Materials:

Court Docket: https://webapps.sftc.org/ci/CaseInfo.dll?CaseNum=CJC21005179&SessionID=7106398EC9698963356A6742C4B58BD240B2B466

Proposed Settlement: https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/stipulated-judgment-and-settlement-agreement.pdf 

Objection, Nicole Moore, President RDU:

2026.10.14 OBJECTION TO JUDGE re LYFT SETTLEMENT DRAFT - Nicole Moore.pdf

Supplemental Objection, Nicole Moore, President RDU: 

2026.10.20 Supplemental Objection Nicole Moore Lyft Settlement -.pdf

Judge Schulman Remarks on 10/23/2026 2026.10.23 judge schulman REMARKS: TENTATIVE RULING ON LYFT PLAINTIFFS UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR APPROVAL OF PAGA SETTLEMENT - shared publicly.pdf

About Rideshare Drivers United

Rideshare Drivers United is an independent, democratic, driver-led union made up of more than 20,000 California app-drivers. We fight for fair pay, workplace protections, and a voice in the decisions that affect our livelihoods.