LimeBike's so-called “juicers”—workers who scoop up the signature green and yellow electric bikes and scooters wherever they've been left and make a buck charging them up—represent the novel, now-thriving business model in the gig economy that relies on independent contractors.

LimeBike, which rents scooters in cities across California and dozens more around the world, once recruited “juicers” on its website, proclaiming the San Francisco-based company was “Always looking to grow our team.”

But documents filed in a lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court against Neutron Holdings Inc., which does business as LimeBike, claim the company stripped the representation from its website.