Notre Dame Case Summary

In the case of Hopital Notre-Dame de l’Esperance et Theoret v. Laurent, the court specifically focused on the control test in identifying the employment status of a surgeon at the Notre-Dame Hospital. The court emphasized that the degree of control is essential in this classification, and put great importance on giving orders regarding how a worker performs his job. The honorable stated “the essential criterion of employer-employee relations is the right to give order and instructions to the employee regarding the manner in whichway to carry out his work” (p. 613). Since Uber is not in a position to be able of giving orders to its drivers, the workers cannot be classified as employees. The above case took place in Quebec which is governed with the Law

This section of the contract allows workers to have other jobs or priorities, which makes them none exclusive to the company. Many of the workers enjoy this flexibility and provide transportation services on the side as a “side-job”. Uber has a vast number of drivers around the world because it gifts them with great flexibility. This is one of the reasons why Uber has become a giant profit making company in the world while they have been only around for less than a decade. More importantly, regarding the second Criteria of the Doyle Test, the drivers’ agreement specifies “you,(the driver), retain the sole right to determine when, where, and for how long you will utilize the Driver App or the Uber Services” (section 2.4). This section clarifies the discretion of the workers on conducting their business. Uber provides its workers with flexibility to regarding when to work, who to provide a service to, and how to provide such service. Therefore, based on the control Criteria of the Doyle Test, Uber drivers must be classified as independent