Uber and Lyft get reprieve from court, won't shut down in California for now
From https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/20/tech/uber-lyft-california-shutdown/index.html
Uber and Lyft get reprieve from court, won't shut down in California for now
By Sara Ashley O'Brien, CNN Business
Updated 4:35 PM ET, Thu August 20, 2020
Uber and Lyft get temporary reprieve from California court
(CNN) Uber (UBER) and Lyft (LYFT) narrowly avoided shutting down their ride-hailing services in California after an appellate court granted the companies a temporary reprieve delaying an order that would have forced them to reclassify their drivers in the state by Friday.
While the legal decision on Thursday buys the companies more time, they still do have a deadline hanging over their heads to reclassify their drivers as employees rather than independent contractors.
"We are glad that the Court of Appeals recognized the important questions raised in this case, and that access to these critical services won't be cut off while we continue to advocate for drivers' ability to work with the freedom they want," said Uber spokesperson Noah Edwardsen in a statement.
With hours to go before the original deadline, the companies were bracing for a shutdown. Lyft said earlier Thursday it would suspend service in the state by end of day if an appeals court didn't grant its request for a delay. Uber said earlier this week it would also suspend service by midnight Thursday if not granted a similar delay on the order.
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