Uber Ordered To Pay $8.5 Million To Passenger Who Accused A Driver Of Rape

Uber must salary a rider who accused 1 of its drivers of rape $8.5 million, a national assemblage successful Phoenix has ordered. The assemblage recovered Uber liable for its driver’s misconduct, determining that nan driver was an supplier of nan company. Part of Uber’s defense was that it’s not responsible for what its drivers do, arsenic they are independent contractors. This determination is for but 1 of nan 3,000 akin cases against Uber that person been consolidated successful national court. It was a bellwether proceedings meant to find nan imaginable outcomes of nan different cases, arsenic good arsenic nan imaginable settlements. As The Guardian explains, nan results for this lawsuit could beryllium utilized arsenic a precedent for each nan different pending lawsuits if nan verdict is upheld by nan appeals court.

The lawsuit chosen for nan bellwether proceedings was revenge by Jaylynn Dean, who said she was raped by her Uber driver successful 2023. Dean said she was intoxicated erstwhile she ordered an Uber to return her backmost location from her boyfriend’s flat aft celebrating passing a trial for her formation attendant training. The driver allegedly stopped astatine a acheronian parking batch and raped her successful nan backseat.

Uber based on that nan driver had nary criminal history, had completed training and had fantabulous rider feedback. The company’s campy besides presented its information measures, including nan improvement of a machine-learning instrumentality that tin measure nan consequence of imaginable rides. But Dean’s lawyers showed grounds during nan proceedings that she was tagged arsenic precocious consequence for a superior information incident conscionable earlier her thrust arrived and that she wasn’t notified astir it. They besides presented documents suggesting that Uber resisted introducing in-car cameras, because it would slow down growth. “Women cognize it’s a vulnerable world. We cognize astir nan consequence of intersexual assault,” Dean’s furniture said successful her closing arguments. “They made america judge that this was a spot that was safe from that.“

Despite nan assemblage holding Uber liable for nan incident, it wished that nan institution wasn’t negligent erstwhile it comes to information practices and its app’s information systems were not faulty. “This verdict affirms that Uber acted responsibly and has invested meaningfully successful rider safety,” an Uber spokesperson told The New York Times. He besides said that Uber plans to entreaty nan jury’s decision. In summation to nan 3,000 lawsuits consolidated successful national court, Uber is besides facing 500 akin cases successful California authorities court. Last year, a California assemblage recovered that nan institution was not liable for a intersexual battle that nan plaintiff alleged her driver had committed backmost successful 2016.