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U.S. District Judge Marsha J. Pechman denied Uber’s request to temporarily block Seattle’s App-Based Worker Deactivation Rights Ordinance, allowing the law to take effect on January 1, 2025. The December 31, 2024 order denied both a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction in Uber Technologies, Inc. and Portier, LLC v. City of Seattle, Case No. 2:24-cv-02103-MJP.
The ruling was not necessarily a final decision on the entire lawsuit. It addressed whether Seattle could be stopped from enforcing the ordinance while the case continued. The dispute involved Uber Eats delivery operations and Instacart—not automatically Uber’s passenger-transportation drivers.
What the judge decided
Uber asked the federal court to issue emergency and preliminary relief preventing Seattle from enforcing the ordinance against it. Judge Pechman denied both requests.
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A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11In evaluating a preliminary injunction, courts generally consider whether the requesting party is likely to succeed on the merits, whether it faces irreparable harm, how the competing hardships weigh, and whether an injunction would serve the public interest. The court concluded that Uber had not made the showing required for extraordinary relief.
That means the ordinance could remain operative as the litigation proceeded. It does not mean the December 31 order automatically resolved every claim or guaranteed how the court would rule after a complete merits proceeding.
The case named Uber Technologies, Inc. and Portier, LLC, Uber’s Uber Eats-related entity. MapleBear Inc., doing business as Instacart, intervened as a plaintiff, and the City of Seattle was the defendant. The litigation therefore concerned more than one delivery platform.
What Seattle’s deactivation law requires
Seattle adopted the App-Based Worker Deactivation Rights Ordinance in August 2023 and codified it as SMC Chapter 8.40. It establishes standards for how covered network companies deactivate app-based workers.
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Companies must provide a written policy explaining what conduct may result in deactivation, what constitutes a violation, how workers can avoid violating the policy, and how the policy relates to safe and efficient operations. The policy must be specific enough to give workers meaningful information about the conduct at issue.
Advance notice, subject to exceptions
The ordinance generally requires advance notice before most deactivations. News reports often describe this as a 14-day notice requirement, but it is not an unconditional rule for every situation. The ordinance and administrative rules provide exceptions and procedures for circumstances such as urgent safety concerns and other specified conditions.
Challenges, review and records
Covered companies must provide an internal process for workers to challenge a deactivation and follow required procedural steps. The process can require review of the decision rather than relying exclusively on an automated result.
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Workers must also receive access to records relied on to substantiate the deactivation, subject to protections such as anonymizing information that could identify third parties.
The law does not guarantee reinstatement every time a worker challenges a deactivation. The outcome can depend on the company’s findings, the applicable policy, and the ordinance’s rules.
Private legal action
Seattle’s guidance says an eligible worker generally must first use the company’s internal deactivation challenge procedure. The worker generally has 90 days after receiving the deactivation notice to start that challenge. A private lawsuit may follow after the company’s initial response or after 14 days have passed since the challenge was submitted.
An OLS complaint and a private lawsuit are separate paths. Workers considering litigation should consult a qualified attorney about deadlines and available remedies.
See Seattle’s deactivation complaint and guidance page.
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Who is covered?
The ordinance is Seattle-specific and does not cover every person who drives for an app. Coverage depends on the type of service, location, timing and the ordinance’s statutory and regulatory definitions.
Seattle’s worker guidance says a worker may qualify if at least 25% of the worker’s completed offers or services were performed in Seattle during the relevant period, or if the incident leading to deactivation occurred in Seattle. The ordinance does not cover deactivations that occurred before January 1, 2025.
The lawsuit centered on app-based delivery workers, including people delivering food, groceries and other goods through services such as Uber Eats and Instacart. It should not be read as establishing identical rights for Uber passenger drivers. Passenger-transportation drivers are treated separately and are governed under Washington state law rather than this Seattle delivery-focused ordinance.
Review Seattle’s coverage summary.
Uber’s constitutional arguments
Compelled speech
Uber argued that Seattle was forcing it to create and communicate policies that conflicted with its operational views, raising First Amendment concerns.
At the preliminary stage, the court found Uber unlikely to prevail. The judge characterized the ordinance primarily as a regulation of business conduct—how the company structures and applies deactivation policies—with any effect on speech being incidental. The court also concluded that the ordinance did not require Uber to endorse Seattle’s policy views.
Expressive association
Uber also argued that the ordinance interfered with its ability to associate with app workers. The court viewed the relationship in the record as commercial rather than an association formed to express shared beliefs, and therefore did not find the asserted protection persuasive at this stage.
Vagueness
Uber challenged language including the requirement that policies relate to conduct “reasonably related to safe and efficient operations.” The court held that using reasonableness standards does not, by itself, make a law unconstitutionally vague. It viewed some of Uber’s objections as disagreement with the ordinance’s substantive limits rather than evidence that companies could not understand their obligations.
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What workers should do after a deactivation
- Confirm coverage. Check whether the service, location and date fall within Chapter 8.40. Do not assume that a passenger trip and a delivery order are covered in the same way.
- Save the notice. Keep screenshots, emails, in-app messages, the stated reason for deactivation and any policy the company cites.
- Track deadlines. Note when the notice was received and generally submit the internal challenge within 90 days.
- Request and preserve records. Retain the company’s supporting explanation and documents, including records supplied during the challenge.
- Use the correct route. Contact Seattle’s Office of Labor Standards about available administrative remedies, and separately consider legal advice about a private lawsuit.
During the initial enforcement phase, OLS can address specified procedural requirements but cannot investigate whether the underlying reason for a deactivation was permissible. A worker may therefore have a procedural complaint even when OLS cannot yet decide whether the company had a substantively valid reason.
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Compliance involves more than publishing a policy. Covered network companies must provide sufficiently specific policies, issue required notices, operate the internal challenge process, retain and disclose substantiating records, and comply with OLS reporting and administrative requirements.
Seattle’s administrative rules, SHRR Chapter 260, became effective June 24, 2025. Covered companies also faced a first specified records transmission to OLS on July 31, 2025 and were required to obtain a Seattle network-company license by January 1, 2026. Seattle states that network companies pay a 10-cent fee per covered online order or service.
A company could face exposure for failing to follow the required process even if it ultimately had a legitimate reason to deactivate a worker.
Timeline and current status
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| August 2023 | Seattle adopted the ordinance. |
| December 31, 2024 | Judge Pechman denied Uber’s temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction requests. |
| January 1, 2025 | The ordinance took effect. |
| June 24, 2025 | SHRR Chapter 260 administrative rules took effect. |
| July 31, 2025 | Covered companies faced the first specified records transmission to OLS. |
| January 1, 2026 | Covered network companies operating in Seattle were required to have a license. |
| May 31, 2027 | The initial limited-enforcement period ends. |
| June 1, 2027 | OLS may begin investigating whether the substantive reason for a deactivation was permissible, subject to the ordinance and rules. |
As of August 18, 2026, Seattle lists the ordinance as in effect. OLS can enforce specified procedural protections during the initial period, but it cannot yet investigate every dispute over whether the underlying reason for a deactivation was permissible. Broader reason-based enforcement is scheduled to begin June 1, 2027.
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Check Seattle’s current ordinance and enforcement information.
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