Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan chipped away this week at an unfair competition lawsuit over client Uber Inc.’s practices in Chicago. But the upstart transportation company isn’t even close to freeing itself from similar cases around the country.
In a ruling issued on Monday, U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis in Chicago trimmed a proposed class action brought against Uber by taxi and livery drivers in the windy city. Ellis dismissed claims that Uber engaged in unfair competition by using smartphones to calculate fares, rather than charging a fixed fee. But while the judge rejected allegations that Uber “operates illegally and misrepresents the illegal nature of its services,” he refused to toss a separate claim that Uber is duping the public about what a 20 percent “gratuity” actually covers.
