Uber and Lyft can’t stop flouting the law

Ride-hailing apps Uber and Lyft have long disingenuously insisted that they are not transportation companies. This is a legal strategy that, so far, has allowed them to label their legions of drivers contract workers, depriving them of company-backed benefits like health care, paid leave and severance pay.

But as of Thursday, at least in California, Uber and Lyft may finally be able to state honestly they are not in the business of arranging rides. That’s because they say they have no choice but to shutter operations in one of their largest markets after a state judge ordered them to comply with a new California law requiring them to reclassify contract drivers and grant them the benefits and protections afforded to regular employees.