Uber, Lyft Drivers Demand Employee Status as Virus Spreads (1)

Two groups of Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. drivers in Massachusetts are urging a federal court to immediately reclassify them as employees with paid sick leave to help fight the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Drivers and other gig-economy workers provide essential critical services and have been forced to keep working even if they’re experiencing significant coronavirus symptoms, because Uber and Lyft don’t consider them employees and don’t provide paid sick leave, according to motions for an emergency preliminary injunction filed Monday.

The drivers can’t afford to stop working for Uber and Lyft, and so are forced to “drive ...