The Court of Cassation confirmed on Wednesday March 4 the ” requalification (…) in an employment contract “ of the link between Uber and a driver, ensuring that his independent status is not “That fictional”, because of ” subordination link ” that unites them. Such a judgment, a first in France, calls into question the economic model of the American giant, already attacked in California, in particular.
The highest French court has ruled that the driver “Who uses the Uber application does not constitute his own clientele, does not freely set his prices and does not determine the conditions of performance of his transport service”. For the Court of Cassation, the possibility of disconnecting from the platform without penalty “Is not taken into account in the characterization of the link of subordination”.
The judgment lists many elements that do not cover the criteria of self-employment: an itinerary imposed on the driver, an unknown destination, “Thus revealing that he cannot freely choose the race that suits him”, the possibility for Uber to disconnect the driver from three race refusals … The driver, judges the Court of Cassation, “Participates in an organized transport service for which the company Uber unilaterally defines the conditions of exercise”.
A threat to Uber’s business model
In early 2019, Uber appealed to the French Supreme Court after a judgment by the Paris court of appeal, finding that the link between a former independent driver and the American platform was a ” employment contract “. The Court of Cassation thus dismissed Uber’s appeal and confirmed the decision of the Paris Court of Appeal.
This driver had taken to court in June 2017, two months after Uber had “Deactivated his account”, the “Depriving of the possibility of receiving new reservation requests”, said the court of appeal. At the time, he was told that the measure had been “Taken after a thorough study of his case”.
The driver’s lawyer Fabien Masson welcomed the Agence France-Presse (AFP) for this “Jurisprudence” who aims “The number one of VTC platforms [voitures de transport avec chauffeur] “. “This is a first and it will affect all platforms that are inspired by the Uber model”, he estimated.
“This decision does not reflect the reasons why the drivers choose to use the Uber app”, responded a spokesperson for the platform, highlighting “The independence and flexibility it allows”. For Uber, this decision of the Court of Cassation “Does not result in an immediate or automatic requalification of all drivers using our application”.
If some drivers are attached to their self-employed status, many drivers will be able to rely on this new decision to request the reclassification of their contractual relationship with Uber or other platforms under an employment contract. Clearly, Uber’s business model could collapse.
This model, at the heart of the development of the American firm, was attacked by the American State of California, which ratified last September a law aiming to force the giants of the reservation of cars to pay their drivers, so that they are better protected.
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