Uber Sued by 550 Women Over Sexual Assaults by Drivers
Uber is being sued by hundreds of women alleging they were assaulted by drivers while using the ride-hailing app.
A civil action filed this week in the San Francisco County Superior Court asserts at least 550 passengers were "kidnapped, sexually assaulted, sexually battered, raped, falsely imprisoned, stalked, harassed, or otherwise attacked" between 2014 and 2022. The claims of at least 150 more women are being "actively investigated" by lawyers at Slater Slater Schulman LLP.
The complaint comes days after 124,000 documents, dubbed the Uber Files, were leaked by former lobbyist Mark McCann. And less than a month after Uber delivered its second US Safety Report(Opens in a new window), in which Chief Legal Officer Tony West reveals Uber received 3,824 reports across the five most severe categories of sexual assault and misconduct (ranging from "non-consensual kissing of non-sexual body part" to "non-consensual sexual penetration," or rape)—a 38% decrease between 2017/18 and 2019/20.
According to the plaintiffs' lawyers(Opens in a new window), Uber was aware as early as 2014 that drivers were sexually assaulting and raping female passengers, including those participating in this week's action, who accused Uber drivers of sexual assault and attempted rape in cities across the US.
"Uber's whole business model is predicated on giving people a safe ride home, but rider safety was never their concern—growth was, as the expense of their passengers' safety," Adam Slater, founding partner of Slater Slater Schulman LLP, said in a statement. "While the company has acknowledged this crisis of sexual assault in recent years, its actual response has been slow and inadequate, with horrific consequences."
Wednesday's lawsuit accuses Uber
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