Uber deal giving California drivers US$1 each fails to win over judge

Los Angeles

UBER Technologies Inc failed to persuade a judge to approve a settlement offering 1.6 million California drivers an average of US$1.08 each to dispense with alleged labour-code violations that their lawyer earlier claimed might have been worth billions of dollars.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Maren Nelson issued a tentative ruling rejecting a deal aimed at resolving one of the dozen-plus US lawsuits challenging the company's contractor-based business model.

The judge said that there was merit to objections that the US$7.75 million accord - most of which would go to state coffers, administrative costs and lawyer fees - shortchanges drivers who sued seeking the protections and benefit…