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HISTORIC LYFT SETTLEMENT IS A DRIVER VICTORY - BUT FALLS SHORT ON HOLDING LYFT FULLY ACCOUNTABLE FOR MASSIVE WAGE THEFT

October 10, 2026

Today, California announced a $272.5 million settlement with Lyft over years of wage theft and denial of basic labor rights to California drivers. This is the largest wage-and-hour settlement in California history.

$272.5 million is the largest wage settlement for a single employer in the history of California. This victory is historic and hard fought by more than 5000 drivers, members of RDU, who filed the initial claims that started this court case.

But the settlement still misses the mark. 

More than 1900 Lyft drivers filed individual claims against Lyft in 2020 - totaling more than $434 million, which included basic minimum wage for all time worked and expenses, as well as damages.*

Those claims led to both the Labor Commission’s suit to enforce the law for all drivers across the state, as well as a state enforcement action out of the Attorney General’s office, joined by three cities, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego.

“When corporations can systematically deny basic labor rights to hundreds of thousands of workers year after year, real accountability must align with what was actually stolen. Yes, we are getting some of the money back, because we fought for it - and the state and cities backed drivers’ fight. But why do companies who decide to break the law, and not pay basic minimum wages and expenses like every other company, get to pay less than what they actually owe? Are we OK with letting these companies cheat a system of the most basic labor rights?” said RDU President Nicole Moore. 

“This was rent that didn’t get paid, food that wasn’t there for hungry kids. We’ve waited six years for this. We’re proud of our fight and it’s a big settlement - but it's not big enough to cover the real harm that’s happened to drivers over the years.” said Alvaro Bolainez. Alvaro is Vice President of RDU, and has been a driver since the early years of Lyft.

RDU recognizes the Attorney General, Labor Commissioner, and City Attorneys of Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego for pursuing this case and securing a historic recovery. And we recognize the thousands of drivers whose organizing, claims, testimony and persistence made this fight possible.

Jason Munderloh, a driver and leader of the Bay Area RDU Chapter, “This is really an historic settlement but it recovers only a portion of what we know was stolen from us.  This exposes a much bigger problem: our system still allows these companies to make enormous amounts of money by violating our rights and then resolves those violations years later for less than the full cost of the harm. We have to fix the system.”

But the fight for accountability is not finished.

The case against Uber now continues. Drivers will continue organizing to demand the strongest possible recovery of the wages and expenses stolen us by Uber. And RDU will continue fighting for something bigger than any one settlement: a rideshare industry where billion-dollar corporations cannot simply make mincemeat of basic labor rights and expect workers to absorb the cost.

*(An additional 3200 Uber drivers also filed individual claims totalling another - those claims have a court date in late 2027.)

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