Uber received a total of 5,981 allegations of serious sexual assault in the U.S. in 2017 and 2018, according to a new report. The claims range from unwanted touching and kissing to rape.
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Nearly half a decade after public officials sued Uber and Lyft, alleging that the companies were withholding billions of dollars in wages and compensation from drivers, negotiations with the state are set to begin Monday and continue for two weeks.
What's next: Separate talks with Lyft are set to take place on April 8. More than 250,000 drivers who worked with Uber and Lyft between 2016 and 2020 could be eligible for the settlement, according to Rideshare Drivers United, an organization based in California.
Nearly half a decade after public officials sued Uber and Lyft, alleging that the companies were withholding billions of dollars in wages and compensation from drivers, negotiations with the state are set to begin Monday and continue for two weeks.
Drivers are demanding that the state push for a settlement that adequately recoups what they say are years of lost wages, improves workplace conditions — such as protections against drivers being deactivated from the apps — and raises wages moving forward.
More than 250,000 drivers who worked with Uber and Lyft between 2016 and 2020 could be eligible for the settlement, according to Rideshare Drivers United, an organization based in California. Roughly 5,000 drivers filed claims with the state labor commissioner’s office in 2020, alleging that they were denied overtime, mileage reimbursement and other benefits employees are entitled to.
That same year, then-California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and the city attorneys of San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego sued Uber and Lyft for misclassifying drivers as independent contractors. The labor commissioner’s office also sued the companies, alleging wage theft.
The two actions, in addition to several others filed on behalf of individual drivers, were combined into a single joint case before the San Francisco Superior Court. A closed-door mediation session with Uber is scheduled for Monday, while separate talks with Lyft are set to take place on April 8.
Members of the Rideshare Drivers United organization protest against Uber and Lyft during a demonstration in Los Angeles, California, on Feb.14, 2024. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)The lawsuits and subsequent negotiations cover a period of time before California voters passed Proposition 22, a ballot initiative that allowed Uber, Lyft and other gig companies to classify their drivers as independent contractors.
The proposition, which received more than $200 million in backing from gig companies, including Uber and Lyft, promised that independent workers would receive better wages and treatment, a stipulation that some drivers allege was not met.
Uber and Lyft “have been doing what they want. They take more than half of our paycheck and then leave us in bad condition and deactivate us unfairly,” said Ibrahim Diallo, a San Francisco resident who started driving for Uber in 2015 before his account was deactivated in 2023. “More than half of the Uber drivers have to drive 12 hours six days a week, sometimes even seven days, to be able to meet the bills.”
Drivers don’t get paid enough to make ends meet, and they also have to deal with maintenance costs, registration fees and paying for gas, Diallo said, adding that the ride-hailing companies are paying their drivers less and less each year.
“Uber and Lyft are useful, but we can do better,” he said. “We have to treat people with dignity. They have to get good pay to allow them to take weekends, at least spend time with their wife, with their children, and be happy.”
According to Uber, drivers earn at least 120% of minimum wage during active hours. The company also said it has invested more than $1 billion into direct benefits, including health care plans and accident insurance for workers.
“Drivers come to Uber precisely because of the unique flexibility that it provides,” an Uber spokesperson said in an email. “Prop 22 safeguarded their choice to work independently while ensuring important new protections. The voters of California have spoken — overwhelmingly — and we look forward to putting these years-old matters behind us.”
According to Veena Dubal, a law professor at UC Irvine who researches the ride-hailing industry and has been critical of Uber and Lyft, studies show drivers are making less money than they did before Proposition 22. Researchers at the UC Berkeley Labor Center found last year that ride-hail drivers in the San Francisco Bay, Los Angeles and three other metro areas made an hourly average wage of $5.97 without tips and $7.63 with tips, after taking into account expenses and wait times.
However, Dubal said it’s unlikely that the companies will concede much in terms of future protections for workers because of how much they invested in Proposition 22.
Drivers “deserve every penny of the billions of dollars that are owed to them,” she said. “It’s tragic that this is primarily about getting workers what they were owed 10 years ago and not ensuring that workers today are at least protected by the minimum wage, at least protected by unemployment insurance. Proposition 22 really precluded all of that.”
Kyle Chrise
is the producer of Morning Edition. He’s created more than 20,000 hours of programming in his 25-plus-year career.
Published December 3, 2025 4:44 PM
A West Valley City, Utah, patrol officer operates his body camera. LASD is bringing them to county jails for the first time.
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L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna is introducing body-worn cameras in jails for the first time. The Sheriff's Department says the move is designed to enhance safety, accountability and transparency.
Why it matters: The Sheriff's Department says body-worn cameras provide additional information during public interactions and increases the ability to reduce criminal and civil liability. The cameras also will allow officers to collect evidence for use in criminal investigations and prosecutions. According to the LASD, research has shown that when officers are outfitted with body cameras, citizen complaints decrease, use-of-force incidents decrease, subject behavior improves and transparency and public trust are enhanced.
Why now: Luna said body-worn cameras started Oct. 1 at the Men's Central Jail, Twin Towers Correctional Facility, the Inmate Reception Center and Century Regional Detention Facility. He added that more than 1,000 personnel have been trained on the cameras, and the department is training 7,200 additional employees each week.
The backstory: In September, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the state was suing Los Angeles County and the Sheriff's Department over conditions inside the jail system. The suit claimed inmates lacked basic access to clean water and edible food and lived in facilities that were infested with rats and roaches. At that point, Bonta said there had been 36 deaths in jails in 2025 and 205 deaths over the past four years. The Sheriff's Department responded by insisting progress has been made in improving jail conditions and in meeting requirements of four existing federal settlement agreements relating to the jails.
What's next: Luna said the department will be rolling out body-worn cameras to the jail at the Pitchess Detention Center, the L.A. County General Medical Center Jail ward and all other custody support units.
Two of the nation's latest food recalls concern cheese — and lots of it.
About the recalls: The recalls are distinct, citing different food safety concerns: One involves hundreds of thousands of containers of shredded mozzarella and multi-cheese blends, while the other affects several brands of grated Pecorino Romano.
About the products: Both recalls target products that have sell-by dates in 2026 and are sold in major retailers in more than a dozen states.
Read on... for more about the recalls.
Two of the nation's latest food recalls concern cheese — and lots of it.
The recalls are distinct, citing different food safety concerns: One involves hundreds of thousands of containers of shredded mozzarella and multi-cheese blends, while the other affects several brands of grated Pecorino Romano.
But both target products that have sell-by dates in 2026 and are sold in major retailers in more than a dozen states.
Here's what to know:
The shredded cheese recall
Great Lakes Cheese, an Ohio-based company that calls itself "the nation's leading natural cheese packager," initiated a recall of half a dozen kinds of shredded cheese products — from mozzarella to pizza-style — in early October because they may contain fragments of metal.
This week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) upgraded its risk classification to Class II, the second-highest, meaning consumption of the product could cause "temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences."
The affected cheeses are sold under dozens of brand names at nationwide retailers including Target, Walmart, Publix and Aldi.
The FDA says they were distributed to 31 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, as well as Puerto Rico.
The recalled bags, with varying sell-by dates in February and March 2026, include:
Low-moisture part-skim shredded mozzarella from the following brands: Always Save, Borden, Brookshire's, Cache Valley Creamery, Chestnut Hill, Coburn Farms, Econo, Food Club, Food Lion, Gold Rush Creamery, Good & Gather, Great Lakes Cheese, Happy Farms by Aldi, H-E-B, Hill Country Fare, Know & Love, Laura Lynn, Lucerne Dairy Farms, Nu Farm, Publix, Schnuck's, Simply Go, Sprouts Farmers Market, Stater Bros. Markets and Sunnyside Farms.
Italian style shredded cheese blend under the brand names: Brookshire's, Cache Valley Creamery, Coburn Farms, Great Value, Know & Love, Laura Lynn, Publix, Simply Go and Happy Farms by Aldi.
Shredded pizza-style cheese blend from Food Club, Econo, Gold Rush Creamery, Great Value, Laura Lynn and Simply Go.
Mozzarella and provolone shredded cheese blend from Freedom's Choice, Good & Gather, Great Lakes Cheese and Great Value, as well as a mozzarella and parmesan blend from Good & Gather.
The full list of products is on the FDA's website. The FDA has not published a press release or responded to NPR's request for comment about the recall. NPR reached out to Great Lakes Cheese but did not hear back by publication time.
The Pecorino Romano recall
One of several brands of grated Pecorino Romano being recalled over listeria concerns.
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Food and Drug Administration
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The Ambriola Company, a New Jersey-based cheese distributor, announced last week that it was recalling some of its products after routine testing confirmed the presence of listeria, which can cause potentially life-threatening infections.
It said while no illnesses had been reported, it was recalling products processed at that same facility "out of an abundance of caution." Those products were distributed to retail stores — and other distributors — between Nov. 3 and Nov. 20, the FDA says.
"We take food safety very seriously and immediately alerted stores and distributors to remove the affected products from shelves," Ambriola CEO Phil Marfuggi said in a statement. "We are working closely with the FDA and continuing to test our products and facilities to fully understand the situation."
The recalled products are sold — both in plastic containers and pound-sized plastic bags — under the brand names Ambriola, Locatelli, Pinna, Boar's Head and Member's Mark.
They have expiration dates ranging from February to May 2026. It's not clear exactly where the cheeses ended up, though Walmart says some are sold at Walmart locations in 14 states and Sam's Club locations in 27 states.
Wegman's has also issued a recall of Locatelli-brand Pecorino Romano — over the same listeria concerns — that it says was sold in stores in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington, D.C. between Nov. 14 and Nov. 24.
The FDA urges customers to toss or return the cheese for a refund, and contact their doctor if they develop symptoms of a listeria infection, which usually start within two weeks of eating contaminated food and can include fever, headache, stiff neck and muscle aches.
In the meantime, Ambriola says it has suspended production and distribution of affected products as it conducts a "thorough review of all sanitation and food safety procedures."
Copyright 2025 NPR
Gab Chabrán
covers what's happening in food and culture for LAist.
Published December 3, 2025 3:59 PM
Clearman’s Steak ’n Stein in Pico Rivera, with its signature central fountain and wood-paneled dining room
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LAist 89.3's AirTalk recently featured actor and comedian Eric Wareheim, who spent three years traveling the country to document America’s most beloved steakhouses for his new book, "Steak House: The People, the Places, the Recipes." Host Larry Mantle asked listeners for their local recommendations. The phones lit up.
Why now? Steakhouses are having a cultural resurgence, especially in Los Angeles, where old-school dining rooms are suddenly packed again. In an era of constant change, these throwback spaces offer comfort, ritual and a sense of place.
Why is this important? Steakhouses aren’t just restaurants — they’re community anchors built on decades of shared meals, celebrations and familiar faces. By spotlighting the servers, owners and traditions that keep them alive, the story reveals how food can preserve local history. It’s a reminder that some institutions matter precisely because they’ve stayed the same.
Listen
20:09
A new book takes a meaty look at the steak houses that make America
How far would you travel for a good steak?
For actor and director Eric Wareheim, best known as half of the pioneering duo Tim & Eric, the answer turned into a three-year journey across the United States, a sprawling tour of iconic dining rooms, veteran servers and the rituals that define America’s most enduring steakhouses.
Wareheim joined LAist 89.3’s AirTalk recently, talking to host Larry Mantle about how the project grew from a simple “best of” list into a full cultural record.
“Every city has five more, not on anyone’s list,” he said, describing the scale of the country’s steakhouse universe.
Understanding the appeal
For Wareheim, a great steakhouse is built on atmosphere as much as what’s on the plate. Newer restaurants may source fancier meat, he said, but the old-school places offer a different kind of comfort — a sense of continuity that’s increasingly rare.
A suited-up Wareheim sampling prime cuts as he documents America’s great steakhouses.
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What became clear in reporting the book, he said, is that steakhouses serve as more than dining rooms. They’re gathering places for birthdays, anniversaries and decades-long family traditions. They’re neighborhood anchors. And they’re deeply specific to their cities, each one carrying its own rituals, quirks and regulars.
An archival look at the people who built the classic American steakhouse, one dining room meeting at a time.
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The local perspective
It didn’t take long for AirTalk listeners to jump in with their own L.A. favorites.
George Petrelli’s Steakhouse in Culver City: “They bring the meat in and butcher everything right there in the shop — cutting, dressing, even grinding the beef on the premises,” said Douglas in Long Beach.
555 East in Long Beach, which recently marked its 40th anniversary: “It was a grand celebration for the regulars — incredible prime rib, as much as you wanted, plus all sorts of other good things. Their steaks were terrific, and for dessert, they served a molten, individually baked pudding in its own little casserole dish," raved Harriet in Seal Beach.
Dear John’s in Culver City: “So dark you can’t see for the first five minutes,” joked Michael in Sherman Oaks.
Magic Lamp in Rancho Cucamonga: Its classic neon signage was singled out by Eric via email.
Dan Tana’s in West Hollywood: "The best New York strip in town," said Jennifer in Silver Lake.
Betsy in Altadena: Praised by local resident Peggy as her new go-to, calling its real-wood, fire-seared steaks “a bright spot amongst the ashes” — a nod to the community recovering from the Eaton Fire.
Wareheim himself shouted out Taylor’s in Koreatown, the first steakhouse he and his comedy partner Tim Heidecker visited years ago. This formative experience planted the seed for the book.
From neon signs to prime rib rituals, Wareheim’s book captures the soul of the American steakhouse.
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In addition, Steakhouse also makes mention of plenty of other L.A.–based restaurants that make beef their specialty, including:
Clearman’s Steak ’n Stein (Pico Rivera — classic mid-century steakhouse known for prime rib). Soot Bull Jip (Koreatown — Korean barbecue) Langer’s Delicatessen (MacArthur Park — famed pastrami) Thien An Bo 7 Mon (Rosemead — Vietnamese seven-courses-of-beef restaurant) Niku X (Downtown L.A. — high-end dry-aged/robot-assisted steakhouse) Musso & Frank Grill (Hollywood — iconic old-school chophouse) Majordomo (Chinatown — modern Korean-American takes on large-format beef)
Veteran servers
Wareheim argued that the heart of any steakhouse isn’t the cut of meat — it’s the staff. Many of the places he visited have servers who’ve been there 30 or 40 years, passing down the rhythms of the room like a craft.
“You want to go to a serious server, a lifer who knows exactly what the best thing is,” he said. “You can let go and just let these veterans guide you. And that’s a good feeling.”
The Trump administration has started the process of dramatically easing fuel economy requirements for new vehicles, part of the administration's broader pivot away from cleaner cars.
CAFE standards: The federal Corporate Average Fuel Economy rules require that the entire fleet of vehicles sold by a given automaker, on average, gets more fuel efficient over time. Automakers who fall short previously have needed either to pay hefty fines or buy credits from a company that over-performs on efficiency, like Tesla and other all-electric automakers. At the White House on Wednesday, President Donald Trump said, "We're officially terminating Joe Biden's ridiculously burdensome — horrible, actually — CAFE standards that impose expensive restrictions."
Why now: The Trump administration already has defanged the existing CAFE standards by eliminating the fines associated with them, as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The administration also has been working to roll back tailpipe standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency, which are designed to cut pollution from vehicles. The two sets of rules have overlapping effects, with both of them pushing automakers toward cleaner vehicles. Trump campaigned against what he called the "electric vehicle mandate" and promised to rescind policies — including fuel economy standards — that encouraged or incentivized EVs.
What's next: The proposed change now enters a period of public comment. The Department of Transportation will collect input from companies and citizens before finalizing the rule.
The Trump administration has started the process of dramatically easing fuel economy requirements for new vehicles, part of the administration's broader pivot away from cleaner cars.
At the White House on Wednesday, surrounded by the executives from several major car companies, President Donald Trump said the move would save consumers money by making cars cheaper.
"We're officially terminating Joe Biden's ridiculously burdensome — horrible, actually — CAFE standards that impose expensive restrictions," Trump said, referring to the federal Corporate Average Fuel Economy rules, often called CAFE standards. "And all sorts of problems, all sorts of problems for automakers."
CAFE standards require that the entire fleet of vehicles sold by a given automaker, on average, get more fuel-efficient over time. Automakers who fall short have previously needed to either pay hefty fines, or buy credits from a company that over-performs on efficiency, like Tesla and other all-electric automakers.
The Trump administration has already defanged the existing CAFE standards by eliminating the fines associated with them, as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Under Former President Joe Biden, the rules called for vehicles to get 2% more efficient every year; the Trump administration is now proposing to revert to the 2022 baseline and increase by .5% annually.
The proposed change now enters a period of public comment; the Department of Transportation will collect input from companies and citizens before finalizing the rule.
The administration has already been working to roll back tailpipe standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency, which are designed to cut pollution from vehicles. The two sets of rules have overlapping effects, with both of them pushing automakers toward cleaner vehicles.
The policy shift was no surprise. Trump campaigned against what he called the "electric vehicle mandate," and promised to rescind policies — including fuel economy standards — that encouraged or incentivized EVs.
Trump has framed the policy rollback as a gift to the auto industry. And that's partially true: Large trucks and SUVs may be inefficient, but they're popular and profitable, and selling more of them without any penalty is a financial boon to automakers. In earnings calls this fall, multiple executives noted that the regulatory rollback will boost earnings and help offset the cost of tariffs.
Electric vehicle adoption in the U.S. has moved slower than automakers had expected. Some automakers have said made some of the Biden-era policies not just challenging but unworkable.
In a statement provided by the White House, Ford CEO Jim Farley praised "President Trump's leadership in aligning fuel economy standards with market realities."
But automakers are also navigating a changing global market, with many countries continuing to prioritize climate action. The popularity of high-quality, affordable Chinese EVs has raised questions about whether legacy automakers can compete. So Farley's statement also promised that "We can make real progress on carbon emissions and energy efficiency while still giving customers choice and affordability."
For companies, which need to plan their future vehicle lineups years in advance, it's challenging when rules whipsaw back and forth with each change in administration. That's been the reality for years now: The Obama administration set ambitious fuel economy rules, which Trump 1.0 reversed, Biden reinstated, and now Trump 2.0 is seeking to "reset."
Farley obliquely noted that risk in a conversation with investors in October. He explained why Ford was continuing to move ahead with plans for an affordable electric pickup, despite regulations shifting to no longer support EVs. "We expect adoption will increase over time and the market continue to evolve," Farley said. "And maybe the regulations evolve."
