Lucy Nicholson/Reuters
The ride-sharing company Lyft will file suit against New York City to block a new law mandating a minimum pay for its drivers, according to a source cited in a Wednesday report from The Verge. The law, which is the first of its kind in the country, would require ride-sharing companies to pay their drivers an hourly minimum of $17.22 after expenses, which amounts to $26.51 before expenses. While Lyft reportedly didn’t respond to The Verge’s request for comment, the company has previously claimed that the law would make it harder to compete with Uber. Uber and Via, which would also be impacted by the law, have not yet indicated that they will file suit.
Supporters of the law have argued that after expenses, drivers currently make about $11.90 an hour, which is less than the city’s $15 hourly minimum wage. Advocates decried Wednesday’s expected lawsuit: “This is an indefensible attack on workers by the billion dollar corporations that profit from their labor,” Jim Conigliaro, Jr., founder of the Independent Drivers Guild, told The Verge. “Lyft and the gang should be ashamed that while their executives and investors are millionaires, their drivers, who do all the work, take home less than minimum wage and are even taking their own lives out of desperation.”