Valdovinos

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Defendant is a company that coordinates transportation for special needs clients, such as the elderly and wheelchair users. It does so by relaying transportation requests through its dispatch center located in Utah to local drivers who decide whether or not to accept the trip offer. In order to receive trip offers from defendant, drivers must sign a written agreement stating they are independent contractors. Under the agreement, neither party has to place or accept a particular offer with the other party. Drivers are “free to advertise, solicit and hold [themselves] out and make [themselves] available to the general public as available to perform transportation services” under their own names, independent of defendant, and accept business from defendant’s competitors. They are not restricted in the area where they operate their vehicles. Nor are they prohibited from driving for another company or taking other jobs. Both plaintiffs signed such an agreement with defendant. At some point, the title of the agreement was changed to distinguish between transportation companies that employ drivers and drivers in business for themselves. The proposed class…