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What the Friendly Cab Decision
Means for San Francisco Drivers

The Court of Appeals’ decision that drivers for Friendly Cab and other East Bay companies are employees does not necessarily imply that a court would reach the same conclusion about San Francisco drivers. Some of the factors that led to the decision in the Friendly Cab case — such as a prohibition on the use of cell phones — are not generally part of San Francisco cab company practices.

But other forms of control not practiced in the East Bay companies are present here. The East Bay drivers had no assigned shifts. They leased their cabs by the week and were not subject to the decisions of a dispatcher over which cab they drove or how long they had to wait to get out of the garage.

A number of other factors could lead a court to conclude that San Francisco drivers are employees for organizing purposes. Calling drivers back to the lot in the middle of a shift, bouncing them from their assigned cab because the medallion holder wants to drive, holding them out of service when it pleases the company to do so, subjecting them to often arbitrary dispatch rules and banning them from the radio at a dispatcher’s whim are all indicatons of company control that could lead to a finding of employee status.

In short, it’s not clear what the outcome would be if San Francisco drivers asked to be recognized as employees.