Uber is currently facing hundreds of lawsuits from women saying the ride-hailing company failed to put appropriate measures in place to protect passengers from sexual assault. In a win for victims, NPR reports that the latest ruling means about 80 of those lawsuits will be joined in federal court. Judge Charles Breyer of the Northern District of California will now handle all of the pretrial proceedings, including depositions and discovery.
“This is a big deal because those documents are going to help show, we believe, that the sexual assault problem from drivers to riders is a massive problem,” Bret Stanley, a lawyer representing several victims, said in a statement.
The victims claim Uber could have made using the app safer but chose not to, allegedly doing incomplete background checks and failing to remove drivers accused of sexual assault. “They’re collecting this data, allowing the person to stay on the system. And then something terrible happens,” Stanley said.
When it comes to holding Uber accountable, one challenge these victims face is that Uber’s terms of service do not allow users to join a class-action lawsuit if they’re sexually assaulted, which means all cases have to be tried separately. Uber has fought against joining cases and has previously argued that it “did not owe a duty to Plaintiff to protect against the criminal conduct.”
Between 2017 and 2020, Uber’s latest report shows there were 9,805 sexual assaults of riders, 852 of them rapes. And while the judge has initially joined about 80 cases, it’s possible we’ll see more victims join their cases, as well.
“Sexual assault is a horrific crime, and we take every report of this nature very seriously,” an Uber spokesperson told NPR. “While we cannot comment on pending litigation, we are deeply committed to the safety of all users on the Uber platform.”