Goodbye Lyft? Not So Fast
At 9am on Thursday, August 20, Lyft announced via blog post that it is suspending operations in California effective 11:59PM PT today.
However, Lyft updated its blog post this afternoon and announced that Lyft is back on.
“UPDATE: Rideshare is ON. The California court has granted our request for a further stay, so our rideshare operations can continue uninterrupted, for now. Thanks to the tens of thousands of drivers, riders, and public officials who urged California to keep rideshare available for so many people who depend on it.”
Why was Lyft halting its ridesharing service in California?
California officials filed a lawsuit against Uber and Lyft that they have been violating a new state labor law, AB5, and have been skirting expenses like payroll taxes and unemployment insurance for their workers. Last week, the court granted a preliminary injunction requiring Lyft and Uber to reclassify their drivers as employees. Uber has made no formal announcement as of yet regarding suspending service.
