Uber Lawsuit

Ride-hailing giant Uber is facing a large number of lawsuits from customers who have been sexually assaulted while riding in an Uber. Uber is headquartered in San Francisco, California. As a result, Uber is facing hundreds of the sexual assault lawsuits in California state court. The lawsuits currently fled against Uber have made allegations ranging from kidnapping, sexual assaults, sexual battery, rape, false imprisonment, stalking, harassed, or otherwise attacked by an Uber driver. The lawsuits also allege that Uber was aware as early as 2014 that Uber drivers were sexually assaulting and raping female passengers, but chose to prioritize growth over customer safety. Furthermore, it is alleged that Uber intentionally concealed that Uber drivers had sexually assaulted women in order to preserve the appearance that Ubers were safe. Additionally, the lawsuits against Uber allege that Uber did not conduct proper background checks on its Uber drivers, which lead to even more sexual assaults occurring in Ubers.

Are Ubers Safe?

Uber sure wants you to think that riding in an Uber is safe. Uber states on their website that 99.9% of trips in 2019 and 2020 ended without any safety incident, such as sexual assault. When shown as a statistic, Ubers appear pretty safe (keep in mind that there are approximately 3 million Uber rides every day). However, when viewed as individual incidents, the number of sexual assaults that occur in an Uber is startling. A review of Uber’s 2019-2020 US Safety Report indicates that Uber received 3,842 reports of the five most severe categories of sexual assault, which ranged from “non-consensual kissing of a non-sexual body part” to “non-consensual sexual penetration,” or rape. In Uber’s 2017-2018 US Safety Report, Uber noted that they had received 5,981 reports of sexual assault.

Uber noted that the recent drop of sexual assaults occurring in Ubers (5,981 sexual assaults v. 3,842 sexual assaults), ‘may have been impacted by a number of factors, including how the Covid-19 pandemic altered usage of the platform as well as Uber’s safety and transparency efforts.”  In Uber’s most recent safety report, Uber noted that 80,000 drivers have been removed from the app as a result of continued background checks. 

Uber Does Not Report Sexual Assault to Police

Officials in Santa Clara County, California have argued that Uber should be reporting sexual assaults to the police. However, Uber has cited to advocacy group guidelines in their decision to not report sexual assaults occurring in Ubers to the police. Uber argued that victims should be in control of when and how to disclose their experiences.  The assistant district attorney for Santa Clara County stated that, “Uber receives a complaint, investigates the complaint, makes a finding and handles said findings internally and privately” and that “Uber has essentially carved out its own justice system.” The assistant district attorney estimated that Uber was aware of 60 sexual assault incidents in the county, yet only one Uber driver had been prosecuted. 

California Public Utilities Commission’s $9 Million Settlement With Uber

After the release of Uber’s 2019-2020 US Safety Report revealed a large number of sexual assaults in Ubers, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) requested data on such sexual assaults arising in Uber passenger vehicles. However, Uber failed to respond to CPUC’s request for data on the sexual assaults experienced in Ubers. As a result of Uber refusing to provide data on the sexual assaults that occurred in Ubers, CPUC fined Uber for $59 million. CPUC later settled with Uber for just $9 million for failure to respond to CPUC Rulings requesting information regarding sexual assaults and harassments. Furthermore, Uber agreed to “provide information on sexual assault and harassment to the CPUC on a going forward basis.”

Uber Sexual Assault Attorney

If you have been sexually assaulted while in an Uber, contact our Uber sexual assault attorneys today. Call 202-925-4500 or fill out our web form for a free consultation if you have been sexually assaulted or raped while in an Uber.