(Bloomberg) -- Uber Technologies Inc. reached a settlement offering its drivers an average of about a buck apiece to dispense with alleged labor-code violations that their lawyer claimed might have been worth billions of dollars.

The ride-hailing company, along with the drivers’ lawyer, asked a state judge in Los Angeles Wednesday to approve a $7.75 million agreement to resolve claims stemming from its refusal to give California drivers the protections and benefits of employees. The accord allows Uber to keep classifying the drivers as independent contractors.

The claims by Steven Price, who sought to represent as many as 1.6 million California drivers in a class action, were brought under the state’s so-called bounty hunter law, which gives employees the right to step into the shoes of the state labor secretary to bring enforcement actions. Under the 2004 Private Attorneys General Act, or PAGA, the state keeps 75 percent of any penalties won. The remaining 25 percent is a reward for the workers who bring the case. Thousands of such lawsuits have been filed in the past 12 years.

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