Lyft Drivers Average $792 in $272.5M California Wage Settlement

California Lyft drivers eligible for payouts under the ride-hailing company's $272.5 million state wage-theft settlement will receive an average of $792 — less than $800 each — according to figures disclosed Thursday during a 90-minute hearing before Judge Ethan Schulman in San Francisco Superior Court, the San Francisco Examiner reported.

The lawsuit — brought by the California Attorney General's Office, the California Labor Commissioner's Office, the city attorneys of San Francisco, San Diego, and Los Angeles, and private counsel for 2 named drivers — covers the four-year period from 2016 to 2020, after a 2018 court ruling classified drivers as employees entitled to minimum wage, overtime, and expense reimbursement and before voters approved Proposition 22 in 2020 to reclassify app-based drivers as independent contractors.

How the $272.5 Million Settlement Is Allocated

San Francisco Deputy City Attorney Molly Alarcon disclosed in court Thursday that while 690,000 people drove for Lyft in California between 2016 and 2020, payouts will be limited to the 308,000 drivers who logged at least 80 hours during that four-year window. Those 308,000 drivers accounted for more than 95% of all hours and miles driven for Lyft in California during the period.

Because Lyft plans to pay the $272.5 million settlement over a four-year period, the company will incur a $12 million interest charge, bringing the total payout pool to nearly $285 million:

• State Penalty and Legal Fees: $20.4 million will go to the State of California as a civil penalty, about $15 million will pay fees for attorneys representing the 2 named driver plaintiffs, and about $20,000 each will go to those 2 drivers, leaving $249.4 million for class members.
• Labor Commissioner Claimants: $5.4 million — or $3,273 per driver — is reserved for the 1,650 drivers among the 308,000 eligible workers who had pending wage claims filed with the Labor Commissioner's Office when the lawsuit began.
• General Driver Pool and 3 Payout Tranches: The remaining $244 million will be divided among all 308,000 eligible drivers based on hours and miles driven, averaging $792 per driver. Claimants in the bottom 60% of payout amounts and the 1,650 Labor Commissioner claimants are slated to be paid in full in the first distribution about a year after final approval; drivers in the 60% to 90% tier will be paid off in a second distribution 18 months later; and the top 10% will receive their final balance in a third distribution at the end of Lyft's four-year payment schedule.

Driver Objections and Judge Schulman's Nov. 20 Ruling Timeline

Prior to Thursday's hearing, roughly 1,900 drivers represented by Rideshare Drivers United (RDU) filed objections urging Judge Schulman to reject the agreement. RDU President Nicole Moore — who had previously estimated the pool at 200,000 drivers — noted that 1,934 drivers who filed claims with the Labor Commissioner's Office in 2020 sought $434 million, or about $224,400 each. Moore, along with drivers John Mejia, Jason Munderloh, and former Santa Cruz driver Jeff Turpin, pointed out that as of June 30, Lyft held $1.8 billion in unrestricted cash and short-term investments (plus $2.1 billion in restricted cash), generated more than $600 million from operations in the first half of the year, and spent $400 million in the first half of 2026 repurchasing shares under a $1 billion stock-buyback program announced in February.

Although attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan asked Schulman to let drivers speak at the hearing, the 90-minute session was consumed by the judge's questions to counsel. Deputy Attorney General Mana Barari noted that a potential $2 billion trial judgment was uncertain; plaintiffs' attorney Jahan Sagafi of Outten & Golden argued the settlement represents 4% of Lyft's $6.2 billion market capitalization (compared with Uber's $134 billion valuation); and Lyft attorney Miriam Kim of Munger Tolles & Olson cited the company's $2.1 billion in insurance reserves and $1 billion in long-term debt due in 2029 and 2030. Judge Schulman ordered written responses by Nov. 12 and scheduled a follow-up hearing for Nov. 20 to issue a final ruling.