A judgment handed down by the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) on Thursday 18 July 2024 upheld a decision that private taxi and delivery company Addison Lee must pay a deposit of £125,000 to maintain certain defences in a legal dispute over workers' rights.
The class action against Addison Lee was brought by law firm Leigh Day, which represents over 600 drivers arguing that they should be classed as workers and entitled to rights such as holiday pay and the national minimum wage. The case originally involved three drivers in relation to the period between July 2014 and 24 May 2016. In September 2017, the Employment Tribunal (ET) found that the three drivers were workers and entitled to workers' rights. Addison Lee's appeals to the EAT and the Court of Appeal were unsuccessful, and the drivers were settled in February 2024.
Addison Lee argues that the 2017 ruling does not apply to hundreds of other drivers who have brought claims since then. In 2023, an employment tribunal ordered Addison Lee to pay a £125,000 bond to continue its defence, finding it unlikely to succeed. Failure to pay would mean that more than 300 drivers who worked for the company between 2014 and 2016 would be granted worker status. Addison Lee elected to pay the bond, arguing that its drivers did not have worker rights because they were not workers at any time.
Addison Lee appealed the deposition order ruling, but the EAT dismissed the appeal in its entirety on 18 July 2024. The final compensation hearing will take place from 28 October to 24 November 2024 to determine whether the remaining plaintiffs are truly workers and have corresponding rights.
Leigh Day employment lawyer Liana Wood said: “In our ongoing case, the hundreds of drivers we represent, many of whom worked at the same time as the three drivers who received settlement payments and worker status, argue that they should be able to enjoy worker rights. It is encouraging that Addison Leigh's latest appeal has been dismissed in its entirety, which demonstrates the strength of our argument that drivers should be classed as workers. We look forward to the final hearing in October and hope that the drivers will finally receive the compensation they are justly entitled to.”
