Death Benefits for Lyft Drivers

Chicago Lawyers to Pursue Death Benefits for Lyft Drivers

Death of a breadwinner or other earning member of a family can leave the family grief-stricken and either destitute or struggling. The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act was enacted to make it easier for workers injured on the job to recover compensation. However, in practice, it is a difficult law to parse even when it’s clear that a worker died on the job and should receive benefits. A Lyft driver’s family may be in an especially precarious position because Lyft may have conveyed to the worker that he or she was an independent contractor not entitled to legal protections such as workers’ compensation benefits, a minimum wage, and overtime. We believe this is wrong and are willing to fight for your entitlement to benefits in the event that your spouse or another family member on whom you were dependent dies on the job. If you are concerned about death benefits for Lyft drivers, you should talk to the seasoned Chicago workers’ compensation attorneys of Katz Friedman Eisenstein Johnson Bareck & Bertuca.

Death Benefits for Lyft Drivers

Misclassification of rideshare drivers is common. Often, companies hire workers and ask them to sign contracts in which they agree they are independent contractors. They are able to do so because there is a disparity of power and resources between companies and their workers. Your spouse or parent may have explained that it signed a contract specifying he wouldn’t be entitled to the benefits available to him if he were treated as an employee. However, Lyft cannot make its drivers sign away their rights. The law in Illinois presumes a Lyft driver is an employee, except when Lyft can make a specific showing of certain factors under the ABC test at the pertinent hearing.

As such, if your loved one was a Lyft driver who died in the course of employment, you may be entitled to death benefits. You must be within a class of surviving family members who is eligible for weekly death benefits. These benefits are calculated by using 2/3 of the employee’s average weekly wage in the 52 weeks before the fatal injuries and they are subject to maximum and minimum limits. Under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act 820 ILCS 305/7, the amount of compensation is payable during the life of the decedent’s widow or widower.

When a widow or widower is left behind, the compensation can be paid for up to 25 years or $500,000. When a child reaches age 18, payments can continue until he or she reaches age 25, but only so long as the child is enrolled in school full time in an accredited educational institution. A child who is mentally or physically incapacitated can receive benefits for the duration of the incapacity.

Attorneys to File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit

When someone other than your loved one or Lyft is responsible for a work-related death, it may be appropriate to pursue damages by filing a wrongful death lawsuit. These lawsuits can be filed by the personal representative of the Lyft driver’s estate. For instance, if your spouse was killed in a car accident while driving for Lyft and you are the personal representative of his estate, our lawyers may be able to pursue damages in court.

Unlike a workers’ compensation claim, which doesn’t fully compensate for the economic losses you incurred as a result of the death, and doesn’t address your noneconomic losses at all, you can obtain a full spectrum of your economic and noneconomic losses in a third party lawsuit. In Chicago, damages to which you may be entitled as a decedent’s spouse include lost wages or financial support, loss of consortium, and grief. Children may be able to obtain loss of instruction after the death of a parent.

Hire a Chicago Law Firm for Death Benefits

Death benefits for Lyft drivers can make a huge difference to their families’ well-being. Lyft is more likely to take your claim for death benefits seriously if you’re represented by an attorney with a strong reputation. Our firm represents Lyft drivers in Champaign, Rockford, Quincy, and Aurora, as well as Sangamon, Winnebago, Kane, Cook, and Adams Counties. We examine our clients’ claims to determine whether other relief such as a third party lawsuit for damages is available. Call us at 312-724-5846 or complete our online form.