1 2 3 4 5 Brian S. Kabateck, SBN 152054 (bsk@kbklawyers.com) Shant A. Karnikian, SBN 285048 (sk@kbklawyers.com) KABATECK BROWN KELLNER LLP 644 South Figueroa Street Los Angeles, CA 90017 Telephone: (213) 217-5000 10 Mark J. Geragos, SBN 108325 (mark@geragos.com) Benjamin J. Meiselas, SBN 227412 (ben@geragos.com) GERAGOS & GERAGOS, APC 644 South Figueroa Street Los Angeles, California 90017 Telephone: (213) 625-3900 11 Attorneys for Plaintiff Douglas O’Connor 6 7 8 9 12 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 13 14 15 16 17 18 DOUGLAS O’CONNOR, THOMAS COLOPY, MATTHEW MANAHAN, and ELIE GURFINKEL, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs 19 20 v. Case No. 3:13-cv-03826 – EMC [Related to 3:15-cv-03667-EMC] DECLARATION OF DOUGLAS O’CONNOR OBJECTING TO PROPOSED O’CONNOR CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT 21 22 23 UBER TECHNOLOGIES, INC., Complaint Filed: August 16, 2013 Defendant. 24 25 26 27 28 DECLARATION OF DOUGLAS O’CONNOR OBJECTING TO PROPOSED O’CONNOR CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT DECLARATION OF DOUGLAS O’CONNOR 1 2 3 I DOUGLAS O’CONNOR DECLARE: 4 1. I am over the age of 18 and know the following facts of my own 5 personal knowledge and, if called upon, could and would testify competently thereto. 6 I submit this declaration concurrently hereto with my termination of Lichten & Liss- 7 Riordan, P.C. and my appointment of Mark Geragos of Geragos & Geragos, APC, and 8 Brian Kabateck of Kabateck Brown Kellner LLP as my new attorneys of record. 9 2. I am named as the lead Plaintiff in the class action Douglas O'Connor et 10 al v. Uber Technologies, Inc., C.A. No. 13-03826-EMC (N.D. Cal.) (“O’Connor”). I 11 am compelled to submit this declaration objecting to the class action settlement on 12 behalf of myself and on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of other Uber Drivers in 13 the State of California—and throughout the Country—who were at first given hope 14 and a voice by the lawsuit bearing my name but now feel utterly betrayed and sold-out 15 by an unjust settlement result that only benefits Uber. 16 3. Although I am a signatory to the O’Connor class action settlement 17 agreement with Uber, I was not present or invited to attend any mediation session 18 between Shannon Liss-Riordan and Uber. I was not consulted about settlement 19 terms, amounts, or proposed non-monetary relief. Had I been informed and consulted 20 contemporaneously on the details of the settlement agreement, I would have strongly 21 objected to the terms and methodology used for computing damages. This proposed 22 settlement agreement is not in my interest or in the interest of any Uber driver. 23 24 4. On April 22, 2016 at 11:35 am I received an email with the Subject: Subject: Please DocuSign these document: 4-21-16 FINAL Long Form Settlement Agreement unredacted].pdf,Genera 25 26 27 The email contained an electronic copy of the settlement agreement which required my electronic signature by DocuSign. This was the first time I had ever 28 DECLARATION OF DOUGLAS O’CONNOR OBJECTING TO PROPOSED O’CONNOR CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT 1 received a copy of the settlement agreement in any format. To this day, I never 2 received a hard copy of the settlement agreement and Ms. Liss-Riordan, nor any 3 lawyer from her firm, ever went over the terms or meaning of the terms of the 4 settlement agreement with me. 5 5. Additionally, by the time I received a copy of the settlement agreement, 6 Ms. Liss-Riordan and Uber had already announced that the settlement agreement was 7 signed and executed by all parties, which took place the previous day on April 21, 8 2016. I was not made aware of that announcement on April 21, 2016, before it took 9 place. When the announcement was made that a settlement was reached, not only had 10 I not signed the settlement agreement, I had yet to even see the settlement agreement. 11 6. The settlement agreement was over 100 pages and was extremely 12 complex in form and content. As of May 2, 2016, I had not fully reviewed the 13 settlement agreement and its terms were never explained to me by Ms. Liss-Riordan. 14 On or around that time, I received a call from Adelaide Pagano, a first year associate 15 from Ms. Liss-Riordan’s firm, who informed me that the Court was urgently 16 requesting my signature and that I had to sign the agreement immediately. Based on 17 my conversation, I believed that I could face a sanction or fine from the Court by not 18 signing the agreement. Based on that belief, I signed the agreement. I did not know I 19 had the right not to sign the settlement agreement or that I could object to the 20 settlement agreement. 21 7. By way of this declaration, I hereby withdraw my consent to the 22 settlement agreement bearing my name which was obtained under false pretenses, 23 duress, and misinformation and I hereby request that the settlement agreement be set 24 aside. 25 8. Having now had the full opportunity to review the O’Connor settlement 26 agreement, it is apparent that under the agreement, Uber drivers are being sold out and 27 shortchanged by billions of dollars while sacrificing the determination of their 28 DECLARATION OF DOUGLAS O’CONNOR OBJECTING TO PROPOSED O’CONNOR CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT 1 classification as employees. Additionally, while the settlement includes a non- 2 monetary component, those provisions will expire after only two years and serve as 3 mere window dressing for an otherwise deficient agreement. 4 9. When I initiated the O’Connor action nearly 3 years ago, I did so because 5 it was apparent to me that the failure to properly classify Uber drivers as employees 6 presented the most significant hazard to the economy and public safety in a 7 generation. A “gig economy” does not mean an economy without rules and 8 regulations that protect both driver and passenger. Employee protections exist for the 9 benefit of employees and the communities they serve. The fact that services now take 10 place across internet applications like Uber does not vitiate these employee 11 protections or make these protections less necessary. Unfortunately, the magnitude of 12 this generational threat was given short shrift in the O’Connor class action as almost 13 no meaningful discovery or depositions were taken, but where the average Uber driver 14 will now receive an offensive settlement worth less than a tank of gas. I cannot in 15 good conscience support this disastrous settlement agreement. 16 17 18 19 I declare under penalty of perjury of the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed this the 15th day of May, 2016 in South San Francisco, California. 20 21 22 /s/ Douglas O’Connor Douglas O’Connor 23 24 25 26 27 28 DECLARATION OF DOUGLAS O’CONNOR OBJECTING TO PROPOSED O’CONNOR CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT