Uber Chief Executive Travis Kalanick must disclose some of his emails to plaintiff lawyers in a lawsuit accusing the car service of misleading customers about how it shares gratuities with drivers, a U.S. judge said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
An Uber customer filed a proposed class action lawsuit against the company earlier this year, saying an advertised 20 percent gratuity is “false, misleading, and likely to deceive members of the public” because Uber keeps a substantial portion of the money.<\/p>\n
Uber’s business practices have come under scrutiny, with some customers alleging privacy violations. Earlier this month a senior Uber executive caused an uproar when he told journalists that Uber should consider hiring researchers to examine and disclose activities of media critics.<\/p>\n
Kalanick apologized for the executive’s comments and the company hired an outside law firm to review its privacy policies.<\/p>\n
In the driver gratuity lawsuit, plaintiff attorneys argued that Kalanick and other executives should disclose emails that contain evidence about Uber’s tipping practices.<\/p>\n
The company said that would be overly burdensome because such policies are set by the general manager in each city, which operate as their own “individual business,” according to a court filing.<\/p>\n
At a hearing on Wednesday in an Oakland, California federal court, U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna Ryu said Uber is a new startup with relatively few employees.<\/p>\n
Driver gratuities is an issue that Kalanick and other top executives “are likely to be involved in,” Ryu said.<\/p>\n
Uber taxi SA to offer free WiFi<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Taxi drivers rise against Uber<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n