Uber ordered to pay $8.5 million in lawsuit where woman accused driver of stopping car and raping her
An Uber car in midtown Manhattan in New York City on September 5, 2024. PHOTO: Jimin Kim / Zuma Press / Profimedia
Uber must pay $8.5 million after being found guilty in a lawsuit filed by a woman who alleged she was sexually assaulted by a driver on the ride-sharing platform, a federal court in Phoenix ruled on Thursday, according to the Reuters news agency, which notes that the verdict could influence thousands of similar cases against the ride-sharing company.
The case, filed by plaintiff Jaylynn Dean, is the first lawsuit — in a series known as a “bellwether” — of more than 3,000 similar lawsuits against Uber that have been accepted in U.S. federal courts. Bellwether trials are used to test the veracity of legal allegations and assess the value of claims in the event of possible settlements.
Jaylynn Dean, an Oklahoma resident, sued Uber in 2023, a month after the alleged assault in Arizona. She claimed that Uber was aware of a number of sexual assaults by its drivers, but failed to take steps to improve passenger safety. Such allegations have dogged the company for a long time and have attracted the attention of the media and the US Congress.
Alexandra Walsh, Dean's lawyer, said during closing arguments in the trial that Uber promoted itself as a safe option for women traveling at night, particularly if they had been drinking.
“Women know the world is dangerous. We know about the risk of sexual assault,” Walsh said. “They (Uber, no) made us believe that the world is a safe place in this regard.”
Uber has argued that it should not be held liable for the criminal behavior of drivers using its platform, saying that its background checks and harassment disclosures are sufficient.
Uber also argues that its drivers are independent contractors, not employees, and that, regardless of how they are classified in terms of contractual ties, it cannot be held liable for actions that fall outside the scope of what could reasonably be considered the company's duty.
“He had no criminal record. None,” Kim Bueno, Uber's lawyer, said of the accused driver during closing arguments, noting that he had 10,000 rides logged on the app and a near-perfect rating from passengers. “Was this foreseeable for Uber? The answer to that question has to be no.”
In a statement before the trial, an Uber spokesperson said the company takes every report of sexual harassment very seriously and that the platform continues to invest in new technology to prevent illegal activity.
In the lawsuit filed by Jaylynn Dean, the woman claimed she was intoxicated when she called an Uber driver to take her from her boyfriend's house to the hotel.
The driver asked her several questions during the ride, harassing her, before stopping the car and raping her, Dean claimed during the trial.
Federal Judge Charles Breyer, who normally hears cases in San Francisco, heard Dean's case in Phoenix. Breyer is handling all similar federal cases against Uber, which have been centralized in his court in San Francisco.
Uber is also facing more than 500 lawsuits in California state court. In the only such case to have gone to court so far, a jury ruled in favor of Uber last September. The jury found that although the company was negligent in its safety precautions, that negligence was not a substantial factor in causing an assault against a customer.
Lyft, Uber's U.S. rival, faces similar lawsuits in both state and federal courts, though there is no coordinated federal litigation over the allegations.
