Uber is being sued by hundreds of women who claim the company’s drivers sexually abused them.
According to a complaint filed on behalf of 550 women, they were abused while using the company’s services. Slater Slater Schulman LLP is the law firm representing these women.
Uber released a 2020 report in June detailing 998 sexual assaults, 141 of which were rapes. Uber has received 3,824 allegations of the top five severe sexual assault categories since 2019. There were 6,000 sexual assault reports between 2017 and 2018.
According to the findings, sexual assaults reported on the Uber app have reduced by 38%. However, most reports are expected to go to the police rather than the app.
“We get calls every day from women who are abused in Uber cars, unfortunately,” said attorney Adam Slater.
“While we can’t comment on pending litigation, we will continue to keep safety at the heart of our work,” Uber wrote in response to the mega lawsuit.
“Sexual assault is a horrific crime, and we take every single report seriously,” Uber added.
Matt Davis, a San Francisco attorney, is defending another woman in federal court who claims she was raped. The survivor called an Uber and climbed into an Uber-branded vehicle.
The woman said she was raped on the ride.
The driver had previous two assault accusations and was dismissed as a penalty. However, the company didn’t inform the police and did not return the man’s Uber badge.
“Uber takes the position that that has nothing to do with its platform and, therefore, it doesn’t even have to track, let alone report, those against its riders, and those happen a lot,” said Davis.
“They want to make sure that what happened to them doesn’t happen to other women in the future, that Uber changes its policies to safeguard its customers, rather than putting product over people,” Slater added.
