A group of drivers for the ride-hailing company Uber were granted class-action status in their lawsuit against them.

The drivers are taking on Uber on the grounds that they should be employees and not independent contractors. Thomas Colopy, Matthew Manahan and Elie Gurfinkel are raising the stakes for Uber, who operate solely on the grounds that all drivers are contract employees, according to USA Today.

U.S. District Judge Edward Chen said on Tuesday that the drivers could proceed as a class with limits and that they can only sue on behalf of UberBlack, UberX and UberSUV drivers who have been with Uber out of California sometime since August 16, 2009.

The drivers face a trial by jury, said Judge Chen.

In order for a driver to join the class, they must have signed up to drive directly with Uber or an Uber subsidiary, as one of the many restrictions.

At this time, it is not clear as to how many of Uber’s 160,000 total drivers over time in California will qualify for the class. But if there is in fact a victory, Uber’s business model and $51 billion valuation could be impacted greatly, aside from just a win by a handful of discontented drivers.

Uber has said that they will appeal the decision and said that the limitations on the class automatically eliminate Colopy and that they know only a small fraction of the plaintiffs they were seeking to join the class will actually be certified under the ruling.

“While we are not surprised by this Court’s ruling, we are pleased that it has decided to certify only a tiny fraction of the class that the plaintiffs were seeking,” Uber said in the statement. “That said, we’ll most likely appeal the decision as partners use Uber on their own terms, and there really is no typical driver–the key question at issue.”