A federal jury has ordered Uber to pay $8.5 million to a woman who says one of its drivers raped her during a 2023 trip.
Uber has faced criticism for its safety record, much of it spanning from thousands of incidents of sexual assault reported by both passengers and drivers. Because drivers on the ridesharing platform are categorized as gig workers — working as contractors, rather than company employees — Uber has long maintained that its not liable for their misconduct.
Thursday’s verdict, reached in Arizona, “validates the thousands of survivors who have come forward at great personal risk to demand accountability against Uber,” said Sarah London, one of the lawyers representing the plaintiff — who said the company has put the “focus on profit over passenger safety.”
Uber said it plans to appeal the jury’s decision, and noted that the jury did not find the company to be negligent, nor that its safety systems were “defective.”
The verdict “affirms that Uber acted responsibly and has invested meaningfully in rider safety,” spokesperson Andrew Hasbun said in a statement. He also referenced the fact that the jury did not award the full amount initially requested from the plaintiffs’ lawyers.
