BAZ|DLA Piper helps Uber quash constitutional appeal by ex-contractor

Article of Latin Lawyer.

BAZ/DLA Piper has helped Uber throw out a constitutional appeal by a former contractor after the company ended its relationship with him for allegedly spreading false information.

The Santiago Court of Appeals rejected ex-Uber chauffeur Luis Spiess González’s recurso de protección, concluding that the case was a contractual matter between two private parties. It added that the dispute should be resolved in a trial court. “The award confirms that the relationship between Uber and its partner drivers is a contractual one,” affirms BAZ/DLA partner Marco Salgado.

Spiess, a spokesperson for a Chilean taxi union, had his contract terminated in September after he blamed Uber’s new cash payment system for passengers failing to pay for a trip undertaken by another Uber driver. The plaintiff told local newspaper El Mercurio that a fellow chauffeur had been forced to undertake a 10-hour journey and was not paid for his services. Spiess argued the cash payment system exposes drivers to intimidation and criminality. However, Uber found no record of the alleged 276-kilometre journey.

Spiess had argued Uber’s decision to end its relationship with him was a violation of his freedom of speech and right to property. He did not make his appeal deadline on 30 November. BHC Abogados is thought to have advised the plantiff, but his could not be confirmed prior to publication.

Counsel to Uber

BAZ/DLA Piper

Partners Felipe Bahamondez and Marco Salgado, and associates María José Allende and Sofía Montero

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