What to Know
- Unemployed drivers for apps like Uber and Lyft must get their unemployment benefits promptly, a federal judge ruled Tuesday
- The ruling said the state Department of Labor had 45 days to clear a backlog
- The lawsuit filed against the department had said app-based drivers were not getting their benefits at the amounts they were due, either because of delays or denials
Unemployed drivers for apps like Uber and Lyft must get their unemployment benefits promptly, a federal judge ruled Tuesday in a decision that said the state Department of Labor had 45 days to clear a backlog.
U.S. District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall granted a preliminary injunction to the plaintiffs, four drivers and a drivers' advocacy group, in connection to a lawsuit they had filed in May naming Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the state Department of Labor and the labor commissioner as defendants.
The lawsuit said app-based drivers were not getting their benefits at the amounts they were due, either because of delays or denials. New York state has said the typical wait time to start receiving benefits is two to three weeks, and the drivers said it was taking considerably longer for them.
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The issue stemmed from whether the state had the necessary wage and earnings data from the app companies to make determinations on what kind of benefit amounts drivers would be eligible for; not having the information means more steps for the drivers to have to go through to prove their earnings, which leads to more delays.
In her ruling, the judge wrote that even if the state didn't have the information from the companies, it could have avoided delays by getting it upfront from the drivers, instead of making them go through an appeals process.
“This failure results in an avoidable and inexcusable delay in the payment of unemployment insurance," she said in the ruling.
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In a statement, the Department of Labor said, “We are closely reviewing the decision and considering all of our options. Regardless, the Department of Labor has been providing benefits to rideshare drivers in New York and is committed to continuing that support.”
