A fresh legal battle is unfolding in Seattle as technology giants Instacart and Uber have filed an appeal challenging the city’s new driver deactivation ordinance. The appeal, submitted Monday, continues the companies’ opposition to legislation that governs how app-based delivery platforms can terminate their workers.
The companies’ latest legal maneuver follows a December lawsuit, initially filed by Uber and later joined by Instacart, contesting the App-Based Worker Deactivation Rights Ordinance. The legislation, which took effect on January 1, 2025, was enacted to provide enhanced employment security for delivery workers and other service providers who operate through digital platforms.
Under the contested regulations, companies must implement several worker protection measures. These include providing a two-week notice before deactivating a worker, establishing reasonable policies for termination decisions, ensuring human oversight in the deactivation process, and supplying workers with documentation supporting their removal from the platforms.
The companies’ legal challenge centers on claims that the ordinance infringes upon their First Amendment rights and lacks constitutional clarity. However, these arguments were previously rejected by U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman in a December 31 ruling. The judge determined that the ordinance primarily regulates business operations rather than speech, with any impact on expression being secondary to its main purpose.
Instacart has expressed strong opposition to the ordinance, stating in their response that they will “continue to fight this incredibly flawed ordinance.” The company further warned that allowing the legislation to proceed puts both their operations and customer base at risk.
The ordinance, which was passed by Seattle’s City Council in August 2023 and received Mayor Bruce Harrell’s signature, specifically targets protection for app-based delivery workers. Notably, the law excludes passenger transport drivers, who are already covered by existing Washington state regulations.
This legal confrontation represents the latest in a series of challenges between delivery platform companies and Seattle’s legislative efforts to regulate the gig economy. In the previous year, Instacart, Uber, and DoorDash engaged in controversial discussions with city lawmakers regarding minimum wage requirements for food delivery drivers.
The city’s push to implement driver protection measures has been ongoing, with several laws enacted in recent years aimed at
safeguarding the rights of delivery workers. These legislative efforts reflect a broader trend of municipalities attempting to establish regulatory frameworks for the rapidly evolving gig economy sector.
The court’s recent ruling emphasized the city’s authority to implement worker protection measures, with Judge Pechman specifically noting that the ordinance’s primary goal of protecting app workers from unjustified deactivations does not place unconstitutional burdens on companies like Uber.
As the appeal process moves forward, the case continues to highlight the ongoing tension between technology platforms’ operational autonomy and municipal efforts to regulate working conditions in the gig economy. The outcome of this legal challenge could have significant implications for how cities across the country approach the regulation of app-based work platforms and their relationship with their workforce.
The current appeal marks a critical juncture in the evolving relationship between gig economy platforms and local government regulation, as both sides seek to define the boundaries of worker protection in the digital age. The resolution of this case could set important precedents for similar legislation in other jurisdictions across the United States.