A judge has dismissed a lawsuit from a group of drivers challenging a new Seattle law that will allow ride-hailing drivers to unionize, according to Geekwire. The judge also lifted an injunction on the law that stemmed from a similar lawsuit.
Why it matters: As independent contractors, drivers for services like Uber and Lyft can't unionize and bargain collectively. The companies have resisted most labor regulations or restrictions when it comes to drivers, including benefits and fingerprinting requirements. Uber unsuccessfully tried to challenge the law earlier this year.
The lawsuit was filed by a group of drivers who claimed that "Seattle's law violates federal labor law as well as their First Amendment rights of free speech and freedom of association by forcing them to unionize and pay dues," as Geekwire notes.
The ride-hailing companies will now have to hand over contact information for their drivers so that labor organizations that want to potentially represent them can contact them to garner support for a union vote.
"The original ordinance passed by the City Council was never about benefiting drivers, but about helping Teamsters and taxi companies," said Uber Pacific Northwest general manager Brooke Steger.
"Lyft continues to believe this ordinance could undermine the flexibility of drivers to choose when, where and for how long they drive -- the very things that make Lyft so attractive to drivers and useful for passengers," said Lyft in a statement.
The story has been updated with a statement from Uber.
Samsung Electronics vice chairman Jay Y. Lee was found guilty of bribery, embezzlement and perjury by a South Korean Court, slapping him with a five year prison sentence, according to local news reports. Lee is expected to appeal the verdict.
South Korea's special prosecutor's office accused Lee of bribing a friend of former President Park Geun-hye in exchange for government favors, allegedly including approval of a 2015 merger between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries. That deal consolidated the Lee family's power over Samsung Electronics, according to CNBC.
Why it matters: The jail sentence won't have much impact on the global day-to-day operations of Samsung because Lee is not the face of the flagship brand, but it creates some uncertainty about long-term management. The case renews criticism about the close relationship between South Korea's large, family-run conglomerates (called chaebols) and the country's government.
Benchmark, the VC firm which recently filed a lawsuit against Uber ex-CEO Travis Kalanick, continues to push for his immediate removal from the company's board, according to new documents filed in Delaware Chancery Court. Recode was first to report the new court filing.
Benchmark argues that Kalanick's response to its lawsuit doesn't dispute the fact that he deceived Uber's board by hiding certain information about the self-driving truck startup it acquired—which eventually led to a lawsuit from Waymo—when he took control of three board seats. It also reiterated its opposition to Kalanick's motion to move the lawsuit into private arbitration.
Pushback: Since Benchmark filed its lawsuit, it's faced public opposition from Shervin Pishevar, another longtime Uber investor, as well as from the rest of the company's board, which said it's "disappointed" by the legal action.
Susan Fowler, the former employee who exposed Uber's sexist behavior and helped push CEO Travis Kalanick out of his job, has filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court to fight against unacceptable workplace behavior, per The Recorder. Fowler has asked SCOTUS to forbid companies from preventing employees, like herself, from joining together to sue over their work conditions.
Why it matters: Fowler's complaints extend beyond the inner politics of Uber. Many gig-economy companies that employ workers on a part-time basis use contract waivers like the one Fowler signed that bar employees from engaging in collective litigation. The high court has agreed to take up three cases surrounding this issue.
The petition: According to Bloomberg, Fowler's lawyer has petitioned SCOTUS in support of workers who have been "forced to forgo the right to pursue class-action lawsuits by contract provisions that require grievances to be resolved through one-on-one, closed-door arbitration."
"Inside Waymo's Secret World for Training Self-Driving Cars: An exclusive look at how Alphabet understands its most ambitious artificial intelligence project," by The Atlantic's Alexis Madrigal:
"At any time, there are now 25,000 virtual self-driving cars making their way through fully modeled versions of Austin, Mountain View, and Phoenix, as well as test-track scenarios."
"As we pull into the parking lot, there are whiffs of Manhattan Project, of scientific outpost, of tech startup."
"[E]ngineers ... cook up and stage rare scenarios that might allow them to test new behaviors in a controlled way."
"Due out this fall, ... this is the 10th anniversary of the original iPhone," Bloomberg's Mark Gurman writes. "[T]he new iPhone won't be a case-study of innovation, more a matter of perfecting features that are already out there in rival devices. Time and again, Apple has followed this 'best, not first' philosophy."
Drone sales surpassed the $1 billion in revenue mark for the first time this year, as both hobbyists and companies are tapping into the flying devices for a growing number of uses — from taking selfies to inspecting railroads.
