An Uber lawyer on Wednesday previewed the company’s new legal strategy for keeping drivers classified as non-employee contractors despite a new California labor law that makes it harder to do so. During a video conference hearing of a lawsuit seeking sick pay for Uber drivers in California, Uber lawyer Theane Evangelis said the new state labor law does not apply to her client because Uber does not hire drivers. “Who would be the hiring entity?” U.S. District Judge Edward Chen asked. “The individual consumer who asks for a ride,” Evangelis replied. “It is not Uber who is hiring drivers to perform services for Uber.”
