Readers React: Uber drivers can also work for Lyft. That makes them contractors, not employees

To the editor: David Weil, a social policy academic, breaks new employment legal grounds in his piece arguing why Uber and Lyft should classify their drivers as employees and not contractors.

His primary claim is that these two corporations have built dominate brands. Since when does market success equate to classification of payroll status?

His second point is that Uber and Lyft have built highly successful operational models via technology for rapidly connecting drivers with customers. Wow, now operational efficiency equals employment status!

As a user of these services, I’ve noticed that many drivers carry both logos on their vehicles. A driver, therefore, has the freedom to work for both companies. I would like Weil to show where an employee works for the Nos. 1 and 2 corporations in the same industry simultaneously. It’s hard to imagine being an employee of Microsoft in the morning and Apple that afternoon.

Only an independent contractor could have the freedom and liberty to make such decisions.

Patrick Henry, Los Angeles

The writer is an assistant professor of clinical entrepreneurship at the USC Marshall School of Business.

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