Uber sued by 550 women claiming they were sexually assaulted by drivers
Company has responded ‘slowly and inadequately’ to ‘crisis of sexual assault’, lawyer says
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Your support makes all the difference.Uber is being sued by 550 women who claim they were sexually assaulted by drivers.
The US lawsuit includes allegations of kidnapping, sexual battery and rape.
It comes just weeks after Uber revealed it had received 3,824 reports of sexual assault across 2019 and 2020, when the latest available data is from.
This was down from nearly 6,000 in 2017 and 2018, according to its published safety reports.
Law firm Slater Slater Schulman has now filed a civil action against Uber on behalf of around 550 clients who claim to have been sexually assaulted by drivers.
This includes alleged stalking, harassment, false imprisonment, as well as rape and sexual assault, between 2014 and 2022.
One woman claims to have experienced sexual assault and attempted rape by a driver as a passenger in his car in Chino Hills, California, this February, according to the filing.
Another woman alleges she was fondled and raped in California last November.
The lawsuit - filed to San Francisco County Superior Court - also includes two allegations of attempted rape by a driver in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts the month before.
“Uber’s whole business model is predicated on giving people a safe ride home, but rider safety was never their concern – growth was, at the expense of their passengers’ safety,” said Adam Slater from Slater Slater Schulman said.
“While the company has acknowledged this crisis of sexual assault in recent years, its actual response has been slow and inadequate, with horrific consequences.”
A Uber spokesperson said: “Sexual assault is a horrific crime and we take every single report seriously. There is nothing more important than safety, which is why Uber has built new safety features, established survivor-centric policies, and been more transparent about serious incidents.
“While we can’t comment on pending litigation, we will continue to keep safety at the heart of our work.”
Uber later said the law firm had only filed 12 cases against the company to date.
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