An anonymous reader writes that Uber “has suffered double-losses in Europe, as both France and Germany continue to reject the company’s validity in their regions.” Meanwhile, a Boston Uber driver filed a federal lawsuit on Thursday accusing Uber of illegally classifying drivers as independent contractors to avoid providing full employee benefits. An Indianapolis driver has filed a similar suit, which also complains that Uber won’t let them accept tips, and keeps any tips that customer’s pay them through Uber’s app. And remember when Uber and Lyft left Austin after losing a local election which would’ve required all their drivers to be fingerprinted? Now two lawsuits charge the companies were required to give 60 days notice to all their employees, and is demanding back pay and benefits.

But an anonymous reader quotes this column from the Los Angeles Times arguing that a federal judge’s ultimate question is just “how sleazy” Uber really is.
We’re familiar with the Uber that talked about responding to bad publicity by digging up dirt on reporters following the company. Also the Uber that allegedly stalked passengers using its service, following their travel routes for the amusement of its party-goers… What about the Uber that secretly investigated a lawyer representing an adversary in a lawsuit, and then lied about it? That’s the Uber that Federal Judge Jed S. Rakoff of New York wants to hear a lot more about. On Thursday he ordered Uber to turn over to the other side a pile of documents related to the investigation.

Slashdot reader chasm22 points out that the high-powered investigator hired by Uber is apparently a retired senior CIA officer — a former chief strategy officer, chief of cyberthreat analysis and chief of counterintelligence.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot – Uber Banned in Germany and France, and Faces Lawsuits in Multiple States