Lyft and Uber say they will cover legal fees for drivers who are sued under Texas' new abortion law for transporting women to abortion clinics

- Lyft and Uber said Friday they would cover legal fees for drivers on their respective platforms who are sued under Texas' restrictive abortion law that went into effect this week.

CNBC 2021-09-04 Jessica Bursztynsky

Context & Ripple Effects

The immediate issue is broader than driver liability: related coverage identified potential suits over clinic rides and requests for user data from on-demand platforms. Lyft and Uber are responding by absorbing one category of that exposure for drivers.

The move follows the companies' earlier use of Texas policy engagement to protect their operating model, including lobbying tied to their return to Austin. It turns a regulatory dispute into a platform-level driver-retention and legal-support question.

First-order effects

Lyft and Uber drivers sued for transporting riders to abortion clinics in Texas gain company-paid legal-fee coverage, reducing their personal exposure while working on the platforms.
Lyft and Uber assume a new legal-support obligation linked to rides that related coverage said could trigger claims against on-demand services and demands for user data.

Second-order effects

Other on-demand companies facing the same Texas-law exposure are pressured to define whether contractors, employees, or customers receive comparable legal support.
For Lyft and Uber, legal coverage becomes part of the driver proposition alongside operating in a state where policy disputes can directly affect trip fulfillment.

Third-order effects

If state laws increasingly impose liability through private suits connected to ordinary platform transactions, marketplaces will have to price legal defense and data-handling policies into their service models.
The episode points toward platforms taking a more explicit role in shielding independent workers from regulatory risks created by the services they broker.

The trend: Platform companies are increasingly treating state-level legal exposure as an operating and worker-support cost rather than a matter left solely to individual contractors.

Discussion

@logangreen Logan Green on x
TX SB8 threatens to punish drivers for getting people where they need to go— especially women exercising their right to choose. @Lyft has created a Driver Legal Defense Fund to cover 100% of legal fees for drivers sued under SB8 while driving on our platform.
@dkhos Dara Khosrowshahi on x
Right on @logangreen - drivers shouldn't be put at risk for getting people where they want to go. Team @Uber is in too and will cover legal fees in the same way. Thanks for the push. https://twitter.com/...
@suhaunah Suhauna Hussain on x
some news: Lyft says it will cover legal fees if drivers are sued under Texas's six week abortion ban for transporting a patient. An Uber spokesperson said the company doesn't believe the law applies to their drivers
@jbursz Jessica Bursztynsky on x
NEW: Lyft created a Driver Legal Defense Fund to cover 100% of legal fees for drivers sued under #SB8, the restrictive Texas abortion law. It's the first rideshare company to speak out on the issue. https://www.cnbc.com/...
@lyft @lyft on x
The new TX law #SB8 is incompatible with people's basic rights to privacy, our community guidelines, the spirit of rideshare, and our values as a company. A message from our founders: https://twitter.com/...
@salhernandez Salvador Hernandez on x
Both Uber and Lyft now announcing they will be covering any legal fees of ridershare drivers if they were to be sued under Texas' new abortion law SB8 https://twitter.com/...
@dremilyportermd Emily Porter on x
Once again, we're dependent on private enterprise to save us from our own government. But hey, at least it's something. https://twitter.com/...
@kibblesmith Daniel Kibblesmith on x
Marketing stunts are not going to save us. I'm so tired. https://twitter.com/...
@sayssimonson Joe Gabriel Simonson on x
kinda of remarkable to see corporations come out this strongly in favor of abortion rights. capital's almost unanimous endorsement of BLM last summer foretold this, I guess. how long until economic warfare against any state that doesn't comply with the entire DNC platform? https:…
@qasimrashid @qasimrashid on x
Wow! Lyft & Uber announce they will cover 100% of legal fees for drivers sued under Texas abortion ban🤯 Lyft will also donate $1M to Planned Parenthood. This is leadership & we need more companies to step up. Now is the time! https://www.cnbc.com/...
@stepville Stephanie Land on x
This is awesome. They should also pay their drivers a living wage and benefits. https://twitter.com/...
@moiradonegan Moira Donegan on x
This is an empty PR gesture. No clinics will be performing abortions in TX after 6 weeks, for fear of liability. In fact, many abortion clinics in Texas are going to close, for lack of ability to legally meet their patients needs. https://twitter.com/...
@stevekovach Steve Kovach on x
Uber just followed: https://www.cnbc.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@azhousedems Arizona House Democrats on x
All companies that do business in Texas should follow @Uber and @lyft's example and take steps to help women targeted by this dangerous and unAmerican legislation. https://twitter.com/...
@jeffbercovici Jeff Bercovici on x
The fact that Uber and Lyft reached different conclusions about their drivers' liability says a lot about what a fuzzy, poorly thought-through law it is. Gov. Abbot claims companies love Texas's social policies, but companies hate legal uncertainty above all. https://twitter.com/…
@reckless Nilay Patel on x
Good on ⁦@danprimack⁩ for raising the stakes on all the CEOs and investors who moved to Texas in the pandemic https://www.axios.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@kimmaicutler Kim-Mai Cutler on x
“One possibility is business leaders agree with the Texas law. And if you support financial incentives for squealing on someone medically assisting a 12-year-old raped by her father, then far be it for me to dissuade you. Another possibility is cowardice. https://www.axios.com/..…
@clare_oc Clare O'Connor on x
“The only Texas companies to come out strongly in opposition to the law, Bumble and Match Group, are both led by women.” https://twitter.com/...
@danprimack Dan Primack on x
CEO crickets in Texas https://www.axios.com/...
@pardesoteric Arielle Pardes on x
Shar Dubey, the CEO of Match Group, sent around this memo to employees yesterday. The company is headquartered in Texas, and has set up a fund to help cover travel costs for employees who need to seek abortion care outside of the state. https://twitter.com/...
@almostmedia Julie Fredrickson on x
Startups cannot do business without rule of law. @GregAbbott_TX is making Texas a bad place to do business https://twitter.com/...
@evan_greer Evan Greer on x
Perfect snapshot of the right's hypocrisy when it comes to speech https://twitter.com/...
@ashleylatke Ashley Lake on x
It's not hypocrisy, it's tactics. There's no benefit appealing to a sense of shame when they know exactly what they are doing. We literally cannot win on any issue until we start pointing out they are lying and using censorship and outrage strategically, not stupidly https://twit…
@issielapowsky Issie Lapowsky on x
NEW: The Texas abortion ban raises a ton of ugly questions for tech companies, not least of which is: Faced with a subpoena for data on a user who's accused of aiding and abetting an abortion by, say, fundraising or sharing information, will they comply? https://www.protocol.com/…
@evan_greer Evan Greer on x
My quote: “This law could lead to an explosion of court requests for user data from tech companies that hold troves of it. I could see it being abused by anti-abortion groups who could potentially use the discovery process in a civil lawsuit to demand sensitive information.” http…
@zittrain Jonathan Zittrain on x
Tech companies including Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Uber should publicly articulate how they will respond to subpoenas for user data as private lawsuits begin under the new Texas law. A link to a great roundup by @issielapowsky below. https://twitter.com/...
@marybadthings @marybadthings on x
This law is extremely dangerous to tech companies. Private citizens being able to sue anyone who helps someone attain an abortion, and having it applied so broadly, sets a dangerous precedent that I don't think corporate America wants to deal with.
@lauragorsky Laura Gorsky on x
Hey all of the corporations that have moved to Austin in the past 5 years. What are you going to do about this? I'm waiting for Facebook, Google, Apple, Bumble, Kendra Scott, and Tesla to stand up and make a statement for their employees bodily autonomy
@gregabbott_tx Greg Abbott on x
Business & people are leaving California for states like Texas. Texas > California Innovation NOT regulation & taxes. https://www.forbes.com/...
@lowkeykyrie Chickentown Resident on x
Insurance companies liable? Employers liable through their contributions to employee insurance premiums? Publishers of pro choice literature? This law is such bullshit and completely tosses the idea of legal standing. https://twitter.com/...
@mmasnick Mike Masnick on x
Wrote about how Texas' (unconstitutional) new abortion law likely conflicts with Texas' (also unconstitutional) social media content moderation law. Under those laws, FB might face liability for both leaving up and taking down information about abortions. https://www.techdirt.com…
@eff @eff on x
THREAD: In addition to the drastic restrictions it places on a woman's reproductive and medical care rights, the new Texas abortion law, SB8, will have devastating effects on online speech. https://www.eff.org/...
@mmasnick Mike Masnick on x
And all those tech companies relocating to Texas... might want to reconsider... https://twitter.com/...
@meganmorrone Megan Morrone on x
NEW from @issielapowsky in @protocol. “Whether to respond to requests for this type of data may be a hypothetical now, but it won't be for long.” https://www.protocol.com/...
@issielapowsky Issie Lapowsky on x
And then there are the corporate stewardship questions: What should companies be doing for their Texas-based workers right now? And what does this mean for the whole Austin is the new Silicon Valley ethos? https://www.protocol.com/...
@jakelobin Jake Lobin on x
Nearly every single major Tech company has a HUGE footprint in Texas... @IBM @Dell @Tesla @Apple @Oracle @Google @amazon @Facebook WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOU?? WHAT'S YOUR FUCKING RESPONSE??
@issielapowsky Issie Lapowsky on x
Here's another: if an Uber or Lyft driver gets sued for driving someone to get an abortion, will Uber or Lyft pay their legal fees? https://www.protocol.com/...
@gerritd Gerrit De Vynck on x
Tinder's parent company will pay for employees who need to leave Texas to seek abortions, CEO says. “I am shocked that I now live in a state where women's reproductive laws are more regressive than most of the world” https://www.bloomberg.com/... from @jackiedavalos1

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