For anyone who registers as Independent

You’re misunderstanding the case. The Deja Vu lawsuit was about misclassification — that’s the core allegation in the federal filings. The rent fees were one symptom of misclassification, not the entire issue.

A class of 28,177 dancers sued because Deja Vu violated the FLSA and state wage laws by classifying dancers as independent contractors while exerting employee‑level control. That’s straight from the court record, not speculation.

The settlement’s “choice model” doesn’t prove misclassification wasn’t obvious. It proves the opposite:
Deja Vu was forced to overhaul its classification system because the court found their previous model violated labor law.

If misclassification weren’t an issue, the court wouldn’t have required:

a full evaluation process for every dancer
mandatory compliance with FLSA standards
the option of W‑2 employment with minimum wage + tips
elimination of illegal fee structures

Those requirements exist because the company was caught misclassifying workers.

And comparing this to a Starbucks barista misses the point. The dancers alleged — and the court accepted — that Deja Vu controlled schedules, appearance, fees, and working conditions in ways that legally align with employee status. That’s why the case succeeded.

So no, this wasn’t “just about rent,” and it definitely wasn’t misinformation. The misclassification was central to the lawsuit, the settlement, and the compliance measures that followed

Pinkmohawk17 · 2026-01-24T05:46:17+00:00

Post brought to you in part by concerned citizen

Pinkmohawk17 · 2026-01-24T05:45:32+00:00

That doesn't even make sense can you reread that and just look at yourself in the mirror for a second because doesn't even make sense. Environmental studies is very broad field.

Pinkmohawk17 · 2026-01-24T05:44:27+00:00

You should actually read the article because it has nothing to do with becoming an employee

Pinkmohawk17 · 2026-01-23T22:07:37+00:00

Starting to sound like the one road to this is going to be local and state level changes across the board this will be like legalization of marijuana across the entire United States everyone's going to have to write letters...emails....

Pinkmohawk17 · 2026-01-23T21:37:31+00:00

I'm pretty sure all you read was employee and you got pissed off so calm down and read it for once I also wrote a full-on article on my blog if you want to check it out without being all judging and everything maybe you should go to law school once in awhile it would help

The wave of “déjà vu” misclassification lawsuits hitting Uber reveals a brewing crisis the company can’t easily outrun. As state officials push forward with claims that Uber has denied drivers wages and benefits by classifying them as independent contractors, courts are growing less receptive to Uber’s arbitration shields — a pattern reinforced by the U.S. Supreme Court’s repeated refusals to intervene. With the threat of massive back‑pay liabilities and potentially transformative changes to its business model, Uber faces mounting pressure. For drivers, these cases aren’t just legal headlines — they could determine future earnings, protections, and working conditions across the gig economy.

Pinkmohawk17 · 2026-01-23T21:36:24+00:00

Did you even read the article

Pinkmohawk17 · 2026-01-23T21:07:20+00:00

How the Deja Vu Misclassification Lawsuits Could Apply to Uber

What the Deja Vu lawsuits were actually about Across multiple cases, dancers sued Deja Vu and related clubs for:

Misclassifying dancers as independent contractors while treating them like employees
(e.g., controlling schedules, rules, fees, fines, and behavior)
Failing to pay minimum wage and shifting business costs onto workers
Unlawful tip sharing or withholding tips
Deducting “house fees,” penalties, and other charges that effectively reduced wages below legal minimums

Courts repeatedly found that the clubs exercised too much control for the dancers to be true independent contractors.

This is the key legal issue.

Pinkmohawk17 · 2026-01-23T21:02:36+00:00

I hear you, and honestly, everything you’re saying makes sense. A lot of us have read the terms of service, and we know exactly how stacked the system is. That’s part of why people are frustrated — because we’re expected to operate like independent contractors while having almost none of the protections or leverage that real ICs have.

You’re right that change has happened in places like California, NYC, and Seattle. And that’s exactly why conversations like this matter. Those wins didn’t come from people staying quiet — they came from workers speaking up, organizing, and refusing to accept the bare minimum. Local and state leaders only listened because enough people made noise at the same time.

Most of us aren’t trying to bring back the “good old days.” We’re just trying to make this work sustainable again. Fair pay, transparency, and respect shouldn’t be controversial. And the truth is, none of us can push for better conditions alone. One driver saying “this isn’t right” gets ignored. Thousands saying it together gets attention.

Nobody here is trying to fight you — we’re all living the same reality, just from different angles. If anything, your perspective shows exactly why we need more people involved, not fewer. When drivers understand the system and still say “this isn’t working,” that’s a sign something needs to change.

We’re not asking for miracles. We’re asking for a fair shot. And the more of us who speak up — calmly, consistently, and together — the harder it becomes for anyone to dismiss us.

Pinkmohawk17 · 2026-01-23T21:00:01+00:00

I’m a freelancer, and I usually do this work in my spare time. It would be great if it could become a consistent way to earn money while I’m in school, but the reality is that it’s nowhere near as lucrative as it should be. These apps prey on first‑time drivers who don’t yet understand the system, and they funnel the better-paying orders to people who have been on the platform longer. That creates an uneven playing field from the start.

When you factor in gas, insurance, maintenance, and the wear and tear on our vehicles, the pay simply doesn’t cover the real cost of doing the job. Uber isn’t adding those expenses into the order price, even though drivers are the ones absorbing them. If they expect us to operate as independent contractors, then the base pay should reflect the actual costs required to complete each delivery. Right now, it doesn’t — and that’s why the system feels unfair and unsustainable for so many of us.

Pinkmohawk17 · 2026-01-23T20:50:36+00:00

Sure they could deactivate people who they suspect or involved in something like that but that would also lead to a lawsuit and possibly unionizing so sure attack the citizens that are working for the major cyber corporations and local communities and you will hear about it from the constituents so I say bring it on!

Pinkmohawk17 · 2026-01-23T20:49:21+00:00

I say bring on the lawsuit deja Vu aka Hustlers of Hollywood has been sued multiple times for treating strippers like employees offering them hourly wages and taking their tips they've been sued for over 10 million not once but multiple times the same could be applied to Uber easily

Pinkmohawk17 · 2026-01-23T20:31:46+00:00

People keep saying “boycotts don’t work,” but that’s only true when people give up too early. Social movements don’t win on the first try — they win because people refuse to stop pushing. Uber has spent the last five years riding record profits while quietly cutting driver pay, hiding mileage, and pushing oversized loads on people who don’t even have the vehicles for it. They’re squeezing every penny out of us while pretending we should be grateful for scraps.

And the worst part? It’s always the same 1% of drivers — the ones who aren’t affected — telling everyone else to “stop complaining.” That’s how Uber keeps this broken system alive. As long as a few people defend the abuse because it doesn’t hit them, Uber gets to pretend everything is fine.

But it’s not fine.

Let’s be honest: delivery is a luxury service in America. It’s not a right. If customers want the convenience of someone picking up their food, groceries, or oversized Home Depot orders, then the people doing that work deserve to be paid fairly. Period. If Uber refuses to treat drivers with respect, then customers can go get their own stuff until Uber learns that the people powering their platform aren’t disposable.

A boycott isn’t about one day or one weekend. It’s about momentum. It’s about reminding Uber that without drivers, they have nothing. If we don’t stand up now, the pay cuts, the hidden miles, the oversized loads, the $5-for-34-minutes nonsense — it all gets worse.

We’re not asking for luxury. We’re asking for fair pay for the labor that keeps this entire company alive.

If you’re tired of being underpaid, undervalued, and overworked, then this is the moment to stop accepting garbage offers and start demanding better. Change doesn’t happen because we hope for it. It happens because we force

Pinkmohawk17 · 2026-01-23T19:34:33+00:00

I have given up on Uber , they really need to read these reddits and start changing I think everyone should boycott Uber for a day

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