"Uber vows to challenge new California labour law", 12 September 2019

Uber has pledged to challenge new California rules that threaten to reclassify its drivers as employees, insisting that their work is not a core part of its business as a technology platform...

...Tony West, Uber’s chief legal officer, insisted that AB 5 did not apply to its drivers because it is a technology company, not a transportation provider. “Several previous rulings have found that drivers’ work is outside the usual course of Uber’s business, which is serving as a technology platform for several different types of digital marketplaces,” said Mr West...

Legal experts said Uber faced a struggle. "I think they will have difficulty in seeking to oppose this,” said Emilie Cole, a partner at UK law firm Irwin Mitchell. “The fact that they are a technology company is neither here nor there — these drivers are driving passengers around and that is the core function of Uber. They haven’t had much success with that argument in England and Wales.”...