Court Rules Deliveroo Used Discriminatory Algorithm, Riders Claim

Italy – An Italian court found late last week that an algorithm used by the well-known European food delivery app Deliveroo to rank and give shifts to riders is discriminatory, in what some experts are calling a momentous ruling for the gig economy. 

The largest labor organization in Italy, CGIL, supported a team of Deliveroo riders who filed the lawsuit.

Presiding judge Chiara Zompi’s incredibly thorough legislation provides a close-up view of one of the numerous, frequently-secretive algorithms employed by gig sites to micromanage the workforce and which can have a significant impact on their livelihoods.

Although Deliveroo’s whole business model is based on machine learning algorithms, the court’s investigation focused on a specific algorithm that was allegedly used to assess a rider’s “reliability.” 

The ordinance stated that a rider’s “reliability index” would be badly impacted if they failed to cancel a shift that was pre-booked using the app at least 24 hours before it began. 

This basically meant that riders who can’t make their shifts—even if it’s because of a significant emergency or illness—would have limited job possibilities in the future. 

This is because riders who were rated more trustworthy by the algorithm were first to be assigned shifts in busy timeblocks.

The algorithm’s refusal to consider the grounds for a cancellation, per the court, constitutes discrimination and unfairly penalizes riders who have reasonable causes for not working. 

Deliveroo was mandated to pay the litigating parties €50,000 (about $61,400).

Legal authorities with whom Motherboard consulted viewed the judgment as potentially significant. 

Importantly, they noted, the court found that a firm can still be held accountable and ordered to pay damages even if an algorithm accidentally discriminates against a specified group.

A Deliveroo representative claimed in a message to Motherboard that the business no longer used the same shift booking procedure described in the case.

The representative stated: “This judgment refers to a historical optional booking approach that Deliveroo does not use in Italy or other markets. 

Riders are completely free to select when and where they work, as well as how long they labor for. This indicates that there is no schedule or requirement to take jobs.

We provide self-employment because it gives riders the flexibility they desire, they said. “Every survey demonstrates that riders, with more than 80% of respondents in the most recent survey, desire flexibility above all else. 

Deliveroo already receives hundreds of requests each week to work as a self-employed rider, and we have more than doubled the number of riders we work with in the UK to 50,000 from 25,000 last year.

However, according to Ivana Bartoletti, co-founder of the Women Leading in AI network and author of “An Artificial Revolution,” the effects of the court’s ruling might extend much further than just one reservation system or algorithm.

The case also demonstrates a greater readiness on the part of regulators, the legal system, labor organizations, and workers across the region to address blackbox algorithms, as well as a greater understanding of the possible misuse of such algorithms to get beyond traditional labor laws. 

For instance, four U.K. drivers supported by the App Drivers and Couriers Union sued Uber in July 2020 to acquire access to the same algorithms that Uber utilized. 

And three months later, a different group of Uber drivers sued the firm, alleging that they were fired without a chance to appeal using an artificial algorithm utilized by the platform.

People will have to wait for the final decision of court rules deliveroo used discriminatory algorithm.