Uber Sexual Assault Lawsuit is Settled

Uber recently settled a California lawsuit filed by two women who claimed that Uber’s emphasis on higher profits over adequate background checks resulted in sexual assaults by Uber drivers.

The two women filed the lawsuit in October 2015.  One woman claimed that a Boston driver sexually assaulted her after dropping off her friends and then going off-route and sexually assaulting her. The other woman claimed that a Charleston, South Carolina Uber driver raped her while driving her home from a bar.

Uber has asked the California Court to dismiss the Uber lawsuit, arguing that it cannot be held liable for its drivers’ misconduct because the drivers are independent contractors and had deviated from their driving duties for personal purposes. But a California federal judge rejected Uber’s argument and declined to dismiss the case.  Importantly, the court ruled that the Uber drivers may have been Uber employees (and not independent contractors) who were working for Uber on company time when they allegedly committed the sexual assaults.  The case settled after the court’s ruling.

Do you have a claim against Uber or an Uber Driver? 

DKR’s personal injury lawyers, aggressively pursue claims against Uber when its drivers commit misconduct, whether by causing a car accident or, even worse, committing sexual crimes.  We believe that Uber’s classification of its drivers as independent contractors – as opposed to employees of the company – is a mere fiction that Uber uses in an attempt to avoid liability.  It appears that the courts are starting to catch on to Uber’s fictitious categorization of its drivers, and we hope that trend continues.  

If you have been a victim of an Uber assault or an Uber car accident, please contact us for a free consultation to discuss how you may receive compensation for your Uber injuries.