Uber indicators are seen on vehicles in Krakow, Poland on October 12, 2025.
Jakub Porzycki | Nurphoto | Getty Photographs
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 1000’s 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 answerable for obvious company and lays the groundwork for about 3,000 comparable lawsuits nationwide which have been consolidated in federal courtroom.
The jury didn’t discover Uber answerable 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’ll proceed to put security on the coronary heart of all the pieces we do,” a spokesperson for Uber wrote in an announcement to CNBC.
Sarah London, a lawyer at Girard Sharp who’s representing Dean, known as the decision a “victory” for the plaintiff in an announcement to CNBC and stated it “validates the 1000’s of survivors who’ve come ahead at nice private danger to demand accountability towards Uber for its deal with revenue over passenger security.”
The corporate is planning to attraction the choice.
The ride-hailing firm has stated it shouldn’t be held answerable for the misconduct of drivers, who’re categorised as contractors on its platform.
Final 12 months, the New York Occasions reported that Uber acquired over 400,000 sexual assault and misconduct experiences between 2017 and 2022, which was excess of the corporate had disclosed. In a report final August, Uber stated critical sexual assault on the platform had fallen by 44%.
Uber has taken steps to deal with security on the platform and carried out new options, together with an in-app emergency button and pin verification. In July, Uber started piloting a program in the U.S. that permits ladies drivers and riders to decide out of being paired with a person.
Ridesharing rival Lyft has additionally confronted lawsuits tied to sexual assault and harassment.
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