Italy : The Court of Bologna condemns Deliveroo’s algorithm for discrimination

Initiators:
X
Date of decision:
23/09/2021
Platforms:

On 31 December 2020, the Court of Bologna ruled in favour of the complaint brought by CGIL’s Bologna sections of FILCAMS, NIDIL and FILT. According to the complaint, Deliveroo’s algorithm, called Frank, discriminated workers and restricted their access to working slots following absences for strike, or for health or care reasons. The judge ruled completely in favour of CGIL’s position despite Deliveroo’s hastily modifying the algorithm few days ahead of the ruling. In a circular, CGIL underlined the most significant aspects of the Court’s ruling. These include the fact that the platform is not necessarily blind to the reasons why a worker skips a slot. In cases when it really is blind to such reasons, it is so by deliberate choice. CGIL considered the ruling and the 50 000 euro fine to Deliveroo as an important result.

Digital Platform Observatory

The digital platform observatory is a joint initiative of ETUC, IRES and ASTREES, funded by the European Commission. It brings together trade unionists, experts, activists, specialists of workers representation and collective action in the  platform economy.