Lyft to suspend California rides services at midnight -blog post

By Tina Bellon

Aug 20 (Reuters) - Lyft Inc on Thursday said it will suspend its ride-hailing services in California at midnight as a court order takes effect forcing the company to treat its drivers as employees, rather than independent contractors.

"This is not something we wanted to do, as we know millions of Californians depend on Lyft for daily, essential trips," the company said in a blog post. (here: https://lft.to/31eQRur)

The decision to suspend service in the most populous U.S. state marks an unprecedented escalation in a long-running fight between U.S. regulators, labor groups and gig economy companies that have upended traditional employment models. (Reporting by Tina Bellon in New York Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)