Uber drivers denied punitive damages in class action over safe rides fee

Law 360 reports (subscription required) that U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in the Northern District of California has ruled that a class of Uber drivers cannot seek punitive damages in their lawsuit over the company’s imposition of a $1 “safe rides fee.” Judge Rogers ruled that the plaintiffs, having insisted throughout the case that their claims arise from a contract with Uber, cannot pursue punitive damages because Civil Code section 3294 permits punitive damages only in an action “for the breach of an obligation not arising from contract.”