New York City

NYC Law Could Force Uber and Lyft to Keep Dangerous Drivers on the Road

A federal judge temporarily blocked it from taking effect. But the legal fight is ongoing.

C. Jarrett Dieterle | 9.5.2026 7:00 AM

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A federal judge last month blocked a New York City law eliminating the ability of rideshare companies to kick drivers off of their platforms unless they demonstrate "just cause." That injunction is temporary. But NYC should cut its losses anyway.

Under NYC's "just cause" law, Uber and Lyft would have been barred from deactivating any drivers on their platform without providing 14 days' notice and establishing "just cause" or "bona fide economic reasons." What did "bona fide economic reasons" actually entail? The statute left that frustratingly ambiguous, since it was merely defined as a "proportionate reduction in volume of sales or profit" from the prior quarter, without any indication as to what, exactly, that meant.

Deactivated drivers were also given the ability to appeal through the city's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) or in court. The law even featured a seven-year lookback period, meaning that it applied to deactivations dating back to 2019. Under the law's terms, it only applied to a "high-volume for-hire vehicle service," a definition that........

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