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Uber under fire over insurance policies… Ohio legislation wants Uber, Lyft to provide auto insurance to all drivers on app... Starbucks initiative criticized, could be legal risk….

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Uber under fire over insurance policies
Uber is finding that insurance is no sideline issue for a business; it’s a key consideration. The firm has found itself under fire in at least two jurisdictions in the past week. Firstly in Ontario where the Superior Court Justice James Diamond ruled Friday that details of the firm’s insurance policy will not be kept secret under a court seal; Uber had sought the judgement claiming that it needed to be protected for business reasons. The judge said he was not satisfied that there would be an advantage to competitors of the policy being public and that an insurance policy was not an innovative new product but a contract that can be changed from time to time. The policy is part of the evidence in a case brought against Uber by the City of Toronto arguing that it should be licensed as a taxi firm must; Uber says it is a technology firm and should not. Read the full story.

Ohio legislation wants Uber, Lyft to provide auto insurance to all drivers on app
The second case relating to Uber, and similar services, is proposed legislation in Ohio which would require the services to provide auto insurance for all drivers on the app. The bill calls for the app operators to provide primary insurance for drivers highlighting delays in settling claims as it takes time to track down the insurers of individual drivers. The firms claim that if the proposals become law it would potentially make operating in Ohio unviable. Read the full story.
 
Starbucks initiative criticized, could be legal risk
If you’ve been for a shot of your favourite hot beverage recently in a Starbucks throughout most of the US you may have found that the barista tried to engage with you about race relations or you noticed the sticker placed on your cup. The company’s Race Together initiative, while seemingly with the best intentions, has been criticized for being a bad idea or potentially legally risky. Writing in the Huffington Post business commentator Sanjay Sanhoee calls the idea “misguided and fraught with challenges” while Edward Harold, a partner at Fisher & Phillips told Corporate Counsel that he advises clients to “try to keep political discussions out of the workplace.” The risk, he says, is that baristas do not know what opinion they will be met with and that could lead to conflict. There is also the possibility of the initiative breaching workers’ rights. Overall it seems that as more businesses seek to tackle issues to be socially responsible there is, as is often the case, a careful risk assessment needed to mitigate legal or reputational consequences. 

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