Uber ordered to pay $8.5m over claim driver raped passenger

A US court has ordered Uber to pay $8.5m (£6.2m) to a woman who said she was raped by a man driving for the ride-share company in a legal ruling that could influence the outcome of thousands of other cases against the company.

The federal lawsuit was heard in Arizona, where a jury deliberated for two days, before finding that Uber was responsible for the driver's behaviour.

Uber said it intended to appeal against the verdict.

The jury rejected additional claims made in the lawsuit, including that Uber had been negligent and that its safety systems were defective.

The plaintiff, Jaylynn Dean, said she was sexually assaulted in the car, while taking an Uber to her hotel in 2023. She said Uber had been aware of a wave of sexual assaults committed by its drivers but had not taken basic action to improve safety.

The jury found the company was liable under the apparent agency doctrine - meaning Uber was held responsible for the driver's actions while he worked on the company's behalf - resulting in the $8.5m in compensatory damages.

It did not back Dean's claim for more than $144m in punitive damages against the firm.

A lead lawyer for Dean said the decision "validates the thousands of survivors who have come forward at great personal risk".

Attorney Sarah London added that justice would "ultimately be measured by the outcomes of the ongoing litigation and whether meaningful safety reforms are implemented to protect passengers going forward".

Dean's lawsuit was among the first in a selection of 20 so-called "bellwether" cases against Uber set to go to trial one after another.

These are expected to set some precedent for decisions in roughly 2,500 other federal court cases in which plaintiffs are making similar claims against Uber.

Another of Dean's lawyers, Alexandra Walsh, said in court that Uber had marketed itself as a safe option for women travelling alone at night.

"Women know it's a dangerous world. We know about the risk of sexual assault," Walsh said. "They made us believe that this was a place that was safe from that."

Uber had argued that it should not be held liable for criminal acts by drivers using its platform, who it says are independent contractors and are subject to background checks as part of the vetting procedure.

Its lawyers said the incident had not been foreseeable, as the driver in question had strong ratings by passengers and no criminal record.

"The jury rejected claims that Uber was negligent and that our safety systems were defective," a spokesperson for the firm said.

"They awarded an amount far below what was sought, and declined to award punitive damages altogether.

"This verdict affirms that Uber acted responsibly and has invested meaningfully in rider safety."

The spokesperson for Uber added that in an earlier such case, in which a woman claimed her driver groped and kissed her, the company was not found liable for the assault.