The ILAW Network would like to invite you to a moderated discussion on recent employment litigation against digital platform companies, as featured in our recent Issue Brief – Taken for a Ride: Litigating the Digital Platform Model. We will hear from lawyers from around the world who have been involved in some of the cases highlighted in this brief. This webinar will examine and evaluate the strategies used by digital platform companies to avoid legal obligations to drivers/riders, both in and out of court, and how workers have fought back and, in a growing number of cases, have won. We hope that this discussion will help generate debate about the advocacy and litigation strategies concerning these platform companies, and may inspire future action where labor rights remain contested.

Date: Wednesday, June 23, 2021
Time: 11 am EST (Washington DC)
Register Here

Panelists:

  • Veena Dubal is an Associate Professor of Law at the University of California, Hastings. Her research focuses on the intersection of law, technology, and precarious work. Her commentary and research on the intersections of technology, low-wage work, and organizing (particularly in the so-called “sharing” or platform economy) are regularly featured both in the local and national media, top-tiered law review journals, and in a number of documentaries, including When Rules Don’t Apply, City Rising, and Gig a Uberização do Trabalho.
  • Darcy du Toit is an Emeritus Professor for the Faculty of Law at the University of Western Cape. He is a Co-Investigator for the Fairwork Foundation at the University of Oxford and is the research coordinator for the Centre for Transformative Regulation of Work. He has authored multiple books and journal articles on a variety of labor law issues including platform work and independent contractors.
  • Nicolas Pizzo is an Assistant Professor of Labor and Social Security Law at the Law school of the Universidad de la República in Uruguay. He has co-authored the book “Trabajo a través de plataformas digitales” with Lorena de Leon. He is the founding member of the “La Ventana” Labor and Social Security Law Study Group.
  • Carlos de la Marche was the Auxiliary Judge of the Court of Appeal of Naples, Organizational Unit Labor Section. He is an assistant professor of labor and trade union law at the University of Rome. He has been the legal advisor to the Embassy of Spain.

Moderated by: Ruwan Subasinghe, the Legal Director at the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), a global trade union body representing over 18.5 million workers in 147 countries. He represents the ITF at external bodies, including the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Ruwan sits on the Advisory Board of the International Lawyers Assisting Workers (ILAW) Network and the Board of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI).