Filed by two unnamed women, Uber now has another lawsuit on its hands. The class action lawsuit against Uber alleges assault by Uber drivers. The lawsuit is requesting a court to force Uber to make a few changes.
The lawsuit wants Uber to change how it screens drivers and consider other changes on behalf of the riders. The two female riders allege that they were “subject to rape, sexual assault or gender-motivated violence or harassment by their Uber driver in the last four years.
The riders are also seeking compensation from Uber due to the alleged rapes the women suffered. In addition, the women are asking the court to order an injunction against Uber that would force Uber to change its screening practices such as background checks for its drivers, among other things. The women claim that Uber has engaged in “fraudulent” and unlawful conduct that misled them believing Uber drivers would safely transport them.
“Uber made such false representations after failing to screen the drivers in any meaningful way, thereby presenting grave threats to Plaintiffs’ safety and well-being,” the complaint reads. The women say that Uber doesn’t do enough to perform background checks, thus creating a “system” within which “bad actors can gain access to vulnerable victims.”
Here’s what the complaint said:
Uber has done everything possible to continue using low-cost, woefully inadequate background checks on drivers and has failed to monitor drivers for any violent or inappropriate conduct after they are hired. Nothing meaningful has been done to make rides safer for passengers — especially women. This is no longer an issue of “rogue” drivers who act unlawfully.
This lawsuit comes right after news broke about Uber board reaching an agreement among themselves for a potential SoftBank investment. The investment is expected to be around $10 billion and will net SoftBank about 15% stake in Uber. We will keep you updated as this proceeds.
