A federal jury has ordered Uber to pay $8.5 million to a lady who says one in all its drivers raped her throughout a 2023 journey.
Uber has confronted criticism for its security document, a lot of it spanning from hundreds of incidents of sexual assault reported by each passengers and drivers. Because drivers on the ridesharing platform are categorized as gig staff — working as contractors, quite than firm workers — Uber has lengthy maintained that its not liable for his or her misconduct.
Thursday’s verdict, reached in Arizona, “validates the thousands of survivors who have come forward at great personal risk to demand accountability against Uber,” mentioned Sarah London, one of many attorneys representing the plaintiff — who mentioned the corporate has put the “focus on profit over passenger safety.”
Uber mentioned it plans to attraction the jury’s determination, and famous that the jury didn’t discover the corporate to be negligent, nor that its security methods have been “defective.”
The verdict “affirms that Uber acted responsibly and has invested meaningfully in rider safety,” spokesperson Andrew Hasbun mentioned in a press release. He additionally referenced the truth that the jury didn’t award the complete quantity initially requested from the plaintiffs’ attorneys.
The lawsuit stems from an Uber experience in November 2023, when the plaintiff was heading to her lodge after celebrating her upcoming commencement from flight attendant coaching at her boyfriend’s house in Arizona. Partway by way of the experience, the grievance alleged, the driving force stopped the automotive, entered the again seat and raped the girl.
The lawsuit argued that Uber had lengthy recognized that its drivers have been assaulting passengers, and that it didn’t implement the security measures wanted to cease this from occurring.
Uber has beforehand confronted related allegations of not having enough guardrails to guard rider security. But Uber maintains that sexual assault stories have decreased considerably through the years. According to firm stories, 5,981 incidents of sexual assault have been reported in U.S. rides between 2017 and 2018 — in comparison with 2,717 between 2021 and 2022 (the newest years with knowledge out there), which Uber says represented 0.0001% of complete journeys nationwide.
Uber has taken a number of steps to attempt to repair its issues with security, together with teaming up with Lyft in 2021 to create a database of drivers ousted from their ride-hailing providers for complaints over sexual assault and different crimes.
Still, critics stress that there’s extra work to be achieved — and have more and more referred to as on ridesharing firms to take accountability for assaults.
The Associated Press doesn’t title individuals who have mentioned they have been sexually abused, except they arrive ahead publicly or have given consent by way of their attorneys.
AP Writer Josh Funk contributed to this report.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ap-us-uber-assault-verdict_n_6986271ee4b0e91cdf1d2ff8