An Arizona state court ruling on 5/2 held Uber legally responsible in a 2023 sexual assault case. The court ordered the ride-hailing giant to pay 8,5 million USD to a woman who was a victim of rape by a driver while using the platform.
The lawsuit stems from an Uber trip in november 2023. Dean, who was 19 at the time, was on her way to a hotel after celebrating her flight attendant training graduation. According to the lawsuit, midway through the trip, the driver stopped the car, moved to the back seat, and raped her.
The driver's name was not disclosed, and he was not a defendant in this civil suit.
The lawsuit alleged that Uber had long been aware of its drivers assaulting passengers and that the company failed to implement necessary safety measures to prevent such incidents. The complaint, filed in december 2023, described the company's response as "slow and inadequate", putting "customers' lives and health at serious risk".
Meanwhile, San Francisco-based Uber stated it has taken many steps to improve safety on its platform. These include creating a database of drivers removed from their ride-hailing service due to complaints of sexual assault and other crimes.
Uber maintained that the number of reported sexual assault incidents has significantly decreased over the years. According to Uber's report, there were 5,981 sexual assault incidents reported on trips in the US between 2017 and 2018. By 2021-2022, the latest years for which data is available, this number dropped by more than half to only 2,717 incidents. Uber stated that this figure represents only 0,0001% of total trips nationwide.
However, experts emphasize that companies like Uber need to establish additional consumer protection measures and take clearer responsibility in assault cases.
Another lawyer representing the plaintiff, Dean, stated that the 8,5 million USD compensation ruling affirmed the righteousness of "victims who bravely stood up to hold Uber accountable, despite significant personal risk".
The verdict satisfied many, following years of criticism against Uber regarding safety issues, stemming from thousands of sexual assault incidents reported by both passengers and drivers.
Because Uber drivers are classified as independent contractors, working under contract rather than as company employees, the platform has long asserted it is not responsible for drivers' misconduct.
However, the verdict on 5/2 determined the driver to be an "apparent agent" of the company, holding Uber responsible for the assault.
This ruling may also have a significant impact on a series of similar lawsuits awaiting trial.
Uber announced its intention to appeal. A spokesperson for Uber stated that the ruling recognized Uber had acted "responsibly and invested significantly in passenger safety". The representative added that, as a result, the compensation amount was "much lower" than what the plaintiff initially demanded.
By Hai Thu (According to AP)
