Uber sued by more than 500 women over sexual assault claims

Uber is being sued by more than 500 women who claim they were assaulted by drivers using the ride-hailing platform.

The complaint, filed Wednesday, alleges that “female passengers in multiple states have been kidnapped, sexually assaulted, sexually assaulted, raped, falsely imprisoned, stalked, harassed or otherwise assaulted” by their Uber drivers.

The lawsuit was filed by attorneys from the firm Slater Slater Schulman in San Francisco County Superior Court. The law firm said it has about 550 clients with claims against the company and at least 150 more are being actively investigated.

“Back in 2014, Uber found out that its drivers were sexually assaulting and raping passengers; however, in the eight years since, sexual predators driving for Uber have continued to attack passengers, including the plaintiffs whose claims were alleged in today’s lawsuit,” the law firm said in a press release.

After this story was published, an Uber spokesperson sent the following statement:

“Sexual abuse is a horrific crime and we take every report seriously. Nothing is more important than safety, which is why Uber built new safety features, instituted survivor-oriented policies, and was more transparent about serious incidents. While we can’t comment on pending litigation, we will continue to keep safety at the core of our work.”

The filing comes nearly two weeks after the ride-hailing giant released its second safety report.

Uber said it received 3,824 reports of the five most serious categories of sexual assault in 2019 and 2020, ranging from “inadvertent kissing of a non-sexual body part” to “inadvertent sexual penetration” or rape.

The company said reported sexual assaults were down 38 percent from its original report, which covered 2017 and 2018. It’s unclear whether there was an impact from the Covid-19 pandemic, which dramatically reduced ridership in 2020 and 2021. .

“Although the company has acknowledged this sexual violence crisis in recent years, its actual response has been slow and inadequate, with dire consequences,” Adam Slater, founding partner of Slater Slater Schulman, said in a statement.

In recent years, Uber has introduced a number of safety features, such as checking drivers when they sign up to the platform and once a year thereafter. Still, the company has argued in lawsuits that it cannot be held liable for its drivers, who it considers independent contractors rather than employees, Bloomberg Law reported.

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