Uber held liable, ordered to pay $8.5 million in driver rape swimsuit – Imperial Wire

Uber on Thursday was ordered to pay $8.5 million to the plaintiff in an Arizona trial that’s the first lawsuit to be tried of hundreds involving alleged sexual assault and misconduct by drivers on the ridesharing platform.

Within the lawsuit, Jaylynn Dean alleged that she was raped by her Uber driver in November 2023 whereas returning to her lodge.

The decision, which was delivered in a U.S. District Court docket in Phoenix, discovered Uber accountable for obvious company and lays the groundwork for about 3,000 related lawsuits nationwide which have been consolidated in federal courtroom.

The jury didn’t discover Uber accountable for negligence or design defects, and the corporate was not ordered to pay punitive damages.

“This verdict affirms that Uber acted responsibly and has invested meaningfully in rider security. We are going to proceed to place security on the coronary heart of all the pieces we do,” a spokesperson for Uber wrote in a press release to CNBC.

Sarah London, a lawyer at Girard Sharp who’s representing Dean, known as the decision a “victory” for the plaintiff in a press release to CNBC and mentioned it “validates the hundreds of survivors who’ve come ahead at nice private danger to demand accountability towards Uber for its give attention to revenue over passenger security.”

The corporate is planning to attraction the choice.

The ride-hailing firm has mentioned it shouldn’t be held accountable for the misconduct of drivers, who’re labeled as contractors on its platform.

Final 12 months, the New York Instances reported that Uber acquired over 400,000 sexual assault and misconduct experiences between 2017 and 2022, which was way over the corporate had disclosed. In a report final August, Uber mentioned critical sexual assault on the platform had fallen by 44%.

Uber has taken steps to handle security on the platform and applied new options, together with an in-app emergency button and pin verification. In July, Uber started piloting a program within the U.S. that permits ladies drivers and riders to choose out of being paired with a person.

Ridesharing rival Lyft has additionally confronted lawsuits tied to sexual assault and harassment.