A California agency is suing Uber and Lyft over alleged wage theft, saying the ride-hailing companies have misclassified drivers as independent contractors.

The state’s Department of Industrial Relations announced Wednesday that the Labor Commissioner’s Office filed separate lawsuits against the two California-based companies over their classification of drivers.

“The Uber and Lyft business model rests on the misclassification of drivers as independent contractors,” said California Labor Commissioner Lilia García-Brower in a statement. “This leaves workers without protections such as paid sick leave and reimbursement of drivers’ expenses, as well as overtime and minimum wages.”

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García-Brower’s office said nearly 5,000 drivers have filed complaints against Uber and Lyft for owed wages. She said misclassification also affects other expenses for drivers.

A spokesperson for Uber told The Verge in a statement that the majority of drivers want to work independently, adding that the company has made alterations to the app to ensure drivers remain independent under state law.

“When 3 million Californians are without a job, our leaders should be focused on creating work, not trying to shut down an entire industry,” the spokesperson said.

The Hill has reached out to Uber and Lyft for comment.

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The death toll for immigrants in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody reached the highest level since fiscal 2006 after two more people died this week. 

ICE this week announced the deaths of a Taiwanese man detained in Florida on Thursday and a Canadian man detained in Virginia on Friday. Those two deaths brought the total death toll for fiscal 2020, which ends Sept. 30, to 17, just two shy of the total in fiscal 2006, according to ICE records. 

ICE said Thursday that Taiwanese national Kuan Hui Lee, 51, died Wednesday afternoon at the Kendall Regional Medical Center in Florida after he was diagnosed with what the agency said was a “massive intercranial hemorrhage.” He entered ICE custody on Jan. 24 after overstaying his temporary visa status. 

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The agency announced Friday that James Hill, a 72-year-old man from Canada, died late Thursday night at a Virginia hospital, where he had been receiving treatment for several weeks. The cause of death was not immediately clear, but a source told BuzzFeed News he had tested positive for the coronavirus. He entered ICE custody in April after serving more than 13 years of a 26 year prison sentence for health care fraud and distributing a controlled substance and had been ordered to be deported.

The total death toll in fiscal 2020 is double that of 2019 despite a drop in the number of immigrants in ICE detention. 

“Many of these deaths were avoidable, unnecessary, and a direct result of the Trump administration’s refusal to take basic steps to protect the health and safety of detainees,” John Sandweg, a former ICE director during the Obama administration, told BuzzFeed News.

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The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), a federally owned utility provider, is reversing course on outsourcing jobs after outcry from the White House.

“The Tennessee Valley Authority is immediately rescinding a decision to lay off Information Technology (IT) workers as part of the restructuring process announced earlier this year,” the corporation said in a statement Thursday.

Earlier this year, reports indicated that TVA planned to outsource 20 percent of its technology workforce to foreign companies and that some workers had already been laid off.

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TVA said Thursday that in addition to canceling the planned layoffs, it would review companies it contracts with to make sure that they comply with a new executive order from President TrumpDonald John TrumpBiden says his faith is ‘bedrock foundation of my life’ after Trump claim Coronavirus talks on life support as parties dig in, pass blame Ohio governor tests negative in second coronavirus test MORE.

Trump this week issued an order – partially in response to the TVA situation – that aims to prevent government agencies from outsourcing jobs to foreign workers.

He also initiated a shakeup at TVA, saying he would remove two appointees from the utility’s board of directors, including its chairman, James Thompson.

The president also criticized CEO Jeff Lyash, the country’s highest-paid federal employee, for making $8 million annually.

The Thursday statement from TVA noted that Lyash and Interim Board Chair John Ryder met with White House chief of staff Mark MeadowsMark Randall MeadowsCoronavirus talks on life support as parties dig in, pass blame On The Money: Pessimism grows as coronavirus talks go down to the wire | Jobs report poised to light fire under COVID-19 talks | Tax preparers warn unemployment recipients could owe IRS Top Democrats say postmaster confirmed changes to mail service amid delays MORE and White House Counsel Pat Cipollone.

“We were wrong in not fully understanding the impact on our employees, especially during the pandemic. We are taking immediate actions to address this situation. TVA fully understands and supports the Administration’s commitment to preserving and growing American jobs,” Lyash said in a statement. 

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A union representing the TVA workers celebrated the news.

“This is certainly a win for American workers, for TVA ratepayers, and for everyone who relies on the U.S. electrical grid,” said Gay Henson, president of the Engineering Association/IFPTE Local 1937.

“Our members will get their jobs back. TVA ratepayers will benefit from having skilled U.S. workers providing quality service. And the entire U.S. electrical grid will be more secure, with critical information remaining on U.S. soil.”

The TVA provides utility services to customers in states including parts of Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and Kentucky.

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TGIF!!! Welcome to Overnight Energy, The Hill’s roundup of the latest energy and environment news. Please send tips and comments to Rebecca Beitsch at rbeitsch@thehill.com. Follow her on Twitter: @rebeccabeitsch. Reach Rachel Frazin at rfrazin@thehill.com or follow her on Twitter: @RachelFrazin.

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VELA OUT AT NPS: Acting National Park Service (NPS) Director David Vela is retiring, he announced Friday, leaving the job amid a lawsuit challenging the legality of his tenure.

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Interior Secretary David Bernhardt announced Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) acting director Margaret Everson, a former Ducks Unlimited lobbyist who also worked at Interior under the George W. Bush administration, will take over Vela’s role.

Vela is leaving in September after 30 years of service with NPS. The first Latino to rise to the highest ranks of NPS, he was well-liked by some conservation groups because of his experience within the department.

But after initially being nominated by President TrumpDonald John TrumpJoe Arpaio loses bid for his old position as sheriff Trump brushes off view that Russia denigrating Biden: ‘Nobody’s been tougher on Russia than I have’ Trump tees up executive orders on economy but won’t sign yet MORE to serve as NPS director, his nomination languished and he was never confirmed.

Vela has served as acting director of NPS through a series of temporary orders — the same method Bernhardt used to place Everson in the role — which is being challenged in a lawsuit.

“I’m a little surprised there’s been a change and concerned too that we no longer have a career National Park Service employee in place to represent the men and women of National Park Service and its values,” said Phil Francis, chair of the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks who himself worked for NPS for 41 years before retiring.

Francis said he doesn’t know Everson but worries about the direction of NPS under the Trump administration, including the weakening of some hunting regulations, a suite of environmental regulations and efforts to give private companies more of a say in the management of parks.

“Privatizing campgrounds, changing franchise fee arrangements, rolling back [the National Environmental Policy Act] and air quality regulations, no emphasis on global climate change, not filling positions in a timely and permanent way,” Francis said. “There is a long list of issues that this administration has created and it all appears to be not so much to make the Park Service better or to protect parks but an effort to politicize the agency and to re-elect the president.”

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Bernhardt thanked Vela for his service, saying, “he has always been committed to the mission of the National Park Service.” He called Everson “a great leader who will provide a steady hand as this transition takes place.”

The release from Interior describes Everson as a counselor to Bernhardt “supporting the NPS and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service” in addition to serving as principal deputy director of FWS, the highest ranking post in the agency as its director role remains vacant.

The number of vacancies in Interior’s highest ranks, as well as the temporary orders used to keep various agencies running, has long been a sticking point with conservation and watchdog groups.

Read more on those legal issues here. 

WHAT A RELIEF: A former industry client of Interior Secretary David Bernhardt was able to secure significant relief from a government agency at a time when oil prices hit historic lows during the coronavirus pandemic.

Since April 1, the federal government has allowed Samson Resources to hit pause on at least 51 drilling leases belonging, at least in part, to the oil and gas company. Drilling operators can request suspended leases when oil and gas prices are low, allowing them to resume operations when the market is more favorable.

The Samson lease suspensions were granted by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which is overseen by the Interior Department. The BLM says it has evaluated requests for lease suspensions on a case-by-case basis since the start of the pandemic.

The agency granted other lease suspensions during that period, but the ones approved for Samson accounted for about one-eighth of the total amount. The suspended leases were first identified by the progressive Western Values Project and verified by The Hill.

“For most things that we’ve tracked in the Trump administration, things don’t happen by chance,” said Western Values Project Director Jayson O’Neill.

“We’ve seen time and time again in this administration and particularly in the Interior Department, run by a former lobbyist, that that former lobbyist’s clients tend to get favorable treatment,” O’Neill added.

An Interior Department spokesperson said all companies applying for lease suspensions are treated equally, with no special considerations.

“Entities with leases sometimes request suspensions. Any company is free to submit an application and all companies are subject to the same standards, reviewed by State-level BLM career employees. Nothing else is relevant to that determination,” spokesperson Conner Swanson said in an email.

At the start of the pandemic, decreased demand for oil combined with international disputes led to a historic plunge in prices, which dropped at one point to negative $40 per barrel, meaning people were being paid to take possession of the commodity.

Since then, prices have somewhat rebounded, coming in around $41 a barrel Friday afternoon.

When the oil market appeared to be in free fall, congressional Republicans called on the Interior Department to provide relief to producers by reducing the royalties paid by companies that drill on federally owned land.

The Trump administration said in April it would not provide blanket relief, but would instead use “long-standing regulatory tools” like allowing producers to apply for royalty relief or a lease suspension.

The BLM approved the majority of applications, including suspensions for 422 leases and royalty rate cuts on 471 leases from April through July.

Operators applied for suspensions on 517 leases and cuts on 618 leases.

Read more about efforts to boost the industry here. 

PULL OUT YOUR CALCULATORS: The Interior Department on Friday proposed a new rule that would allow oil and gas companies to pay less money to the government in exchange for producing energy on public lands by changing how these royalties are calculated. 

The proposal would allow oil and gas companies to deduct more for transportation and processing costs from the fees they pay. 

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It would also use an average weekly benchmark price for the commodities rather than the highest weekly benchmark prices to assess royalty payments for certain sales. 

Proponents say this will ease burdens on regulated industries and promote energy independence. 

“This proposal provides regulatory certainty and clarity to States, Tribes and stakeholders, removing unnecessary and burdensome regulations for domestic energy production,” Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said in a statement. 

Opponents argue that the changes unfairly let companies pay less money they owe to the taxpayers. 

“David Bernhardt all along has had one job to do and that is to give as many handouts as possible to his former clients in the oil and gas industry,” said Aaron Weiss, the deputy director of the Center for Western Priorities. 

The proposed rule would lessen royalties paid by some oil companies by allowing them to ask the government for transportation cost allowances that exceed the current cap of 50 percent of the oil’s royalty value. 

It would also let some gas companies pay fewer fees by permitting them to ask the government for processing cost allowances that exceed the current cap of 66-and-two-thirds percent. 

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This part of the proposal mirrors changes requested by oil lobbying group the American Petroleum Institute (API) last year. 

In a letter to department Assistant Secretary Susan Combs, API senior policy advisor Emily Hague wrote that Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) limits on deductions companies are allowed to take were arbitrary. 

“Without the ability to report an allowance above 50% and 66.66% respectively, ONRR is left with the task of devising a way for industry to report the sales with no value on their system,” she wrote. 

Read more about the proposed changes to the royalty calculations here. 

OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY:

This giant climate hot spot is robbing the West of its water, The Washington Post reports

‘Super-pollutant’ emitted by 11 Chinese chemical plants could equal a climate datastrophe, InsideClimate News reports

Canada’s last intact Arctic ice shelf has collapsed, USA Today reports

Problems plagued CO2 capture project before shutdown, Reuters reports

ICYMI: Stories from Friday (and Thursday night)…

EPA, employee union sign contract after years of disputes

Italian resort evacuates due to glacier melting

National Parks chief exit sparks concerns over replacement

Interior chief’s former client among firms that secured COVID-19 relief

Interior proposes easing royalty calculations for public lands drilling

The State Department confirmed Friday that it was behind text messages sent to Russians and Iranians promoting a multimillion-dollar bounty for information on foreign efforts to meddle in this year’s U.S. elections.

A spokesperson for the department said in an email said the messages were intended to foster international awareness of the issue and the reward.

“The U.S. Department of State’s Rewards for Justice (RFJ) program is advertising a reward offer through SMS messages and a variety of other communications tools and techniques. Our SMS messages refer back to the verified official Rewards for Justice social media accounts, which are available in multiple languages,” the spokesperson said.

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“To defend our upcoming elections, the United States Government stands ready to respond to foreign threats with sharp consequences.”

The comment comes after Russians and Iranians took to social media to discuss the unprompted text messages, leading to ridicule among some of the recipients.

“I just laughed,” Sadra Momeni, a developer based out of the Iranian city of Qom, told Reuters.

The State Department first announced Thursday it would offer a $10 million reward to anyone with information on the work of foreign governments to interfere in U.S. elections through cyber operations.

The department is specifically asking for people to come forward with information regarding individuals trying to use hacking operations to meddle in federal, state or local elections in a way that violates the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

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“The ability of persons, as well as foreign powers, to interfere in or undermine public confidence in United States elections, including through the unauthorized accessing of election and campaign infrastructure, constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States,” the State Department wrote in a “wanted” notice.

Concerns over election meddling have remained top of mind for lawmakers after Russia’s complex effort to interfere in the 2016 election, which included a sophisticated social information disinformation campaign and hacks targeting election infrastructure in all 50 states, as well as the networks of the Democratic National Committee.

William Evanina, director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, said Friday the government is primarily concerned over efforts by China, Iran and Russia to meddle again in 2020.

He said that China prefers President TrumpDonald John TrumpJoe Arpaio loses bid for his old position as sheriff Trump brushes off view that Russia denigrating Biden: ‘Nobody’s been tougher on Russia than I have’ Trump tees up executive orders on economy but won’t sign yet MORE lose reelection because Beijing sees him as “unpredictable,” Russia is working to hurt former Vice President Joe BidenJoe BidenDemocratic convention lineup to include Ocasio-Cortez, Clinton, Warren: reports Whitmer met with Biden days before VP announcement: report Maxine Waters says Biden ‘can’t go home without a Black woman being VP’ MORE’s electoral chances because of “what it sees as an anti-Russia ‘establishment,’ ” and Iran “seeks to undermine U.S. democratic institutions, President Trump, and to divide the country in advance of the 2020 elections.”

Chinese tech company Tencent has seen its stock tumble after President TrumpDonald John TrumpBiden says his faith is ‘bedrock foundation of my life’ after Trump claim Coronavirus talks on life support as parties dig in, pass blame Ohio governor tests negative in second coronavirus test MORE signed a pair of executive orders Thursday night that targeted Chinese apps WeChat and TikTok.

Tencent owns WeChat and as a result saw its stock dive 5 percent on Friday.

The president’s executive order bans transactions with Tencent and fellow Chinese tech company ByteDance — owner of TikTok — in 45 days, which would be Sept. 20.

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WeChat is China’s most popular messaging app, and TikTok is one of the United States’ most-used social media platforms.

The repercussions of Trump’s order could be widespread, however, as Tencent also owns parts of major gaming companies including Activision Blizzard and Riot Games — makers of League of Legends, the most-played PC game in the world.

“The spread in the United States of mobile applications developed and owned by companies in the People’s Republic of China (China) continues to threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States. At this time, action must be taken to address the threat posed by one mobile application in particular, TikTok,” the executive order states.

The Trump administration has repeatedly stated its concerns about TikTok’s ties to Beijing and the potential theft of American user data by the ruling Communist Party.

ByteDance is currently under investigation by the Treasury Department’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States . 

American tech giant Microsoft has emerged as a potential buyer of TikTok, a move that Trump said he supports.

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“We set a date — I set a date of around Sept. 15, at which point it’s going to be out of business in the United States,” Trump told reporters. “But if somebody, and whether it’s Microsoft or somebody else, buys it, that will be interesting.”

Microsoft has confirmed that it has been in talks with the White House and ByteDance 

“We are shocked by the recent Executive Order, which was issued without any due process,” TikTok said in a statement Friday, adding that the order has “no adherence to the law” but that the company would “pursue all remedies available to us.”

We reported last week that “Punisher Warzone” director Lexi Alexander will be directing the “Crossface” biopic on Chris Benoit and the 2007 murder-suicide also involving his son and wife, Nancy. The movie will be produced by Alex A. Ginzburg and Tony Lee of “Let It Play” and executive produced by Ram Getz and Matthew Randazzo V. Jake Goldberger and Sarah Coulter will write the script based on Randazzo’s “Ring of Hell: The Story of Chris Benoit & the Fall of the Pro Wrestling Industry” book. You can purchase that book at this link.

According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter via someone who was once involved with the movie, it was originally going to be loosely based on Irv Muchnick’s book about the murders but negotiations fell apart and now it will be loosely based on Randazzo’s book. Industry giant William Morris Endeavor (WME), who is also involved with the movie, at one point suggested that the film have scenes to open up speculation that former WCW booker Kevin Sullivan had something to do with the murders, which has been a conspiracy theory for years. WME also suggested that they have late wrestler Johnny Grunge, perhaps scripted as Benoit’s best friend, be the one who found Eddie Guerrero’s body in his hotel room after a WWE WrestleMania event at Madison Square Garden. In reality, Eddie’s body was found by his nephew Chavo Guerrero before a TV taping in Minnesota. Another crazy idea that goes back to the Sullivan speculation was to write a scene where Sullivan broke into Benoit’s house, to add to the speculation that he was involved. The original writer Richard O’Sullivan says he left the project because he refused to write the Sullivan speculation into the film.

While those wacky ideas were suggested, those still close to the movie say it will be based a lot more on the real story now.

Regarding the cast, Michael Hall was once suggested to play Benoit but his rep said he didn’t want to play a killer and be typecast. Kellen Lutz and Liam McIntyre were also discussed for the Benoit role but that’s been a while back. There were also rumors of Liev Schreiber playing Benoit but those were nixed.

WWE is reportedly not happy with the idea of the movie being made. It’s believed the movie will show drugs, perhaps steroids or others, along with CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) as a possible explanation for why Benoit did what he did.

Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Follow Marc on Twitter at @this_is_marc. Send any news, tips or corrections to us by clicking here.

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