Uber has long struggled to handle complaints of misconduct on the ride-sharing app. Just two weeks ago, the company released its second safety report that showed it received 3,824 reports of the five most severe categories of sexual assault in 2019 and 2020, ranging from “nonconsensual kissing of a nonsexual body part” to “nonconsensual sexual penetration,” or rape.
“While the company has acknowledged this crisis of sexual assault in recent years, its actual response has been slow and inadequate, with horrific consequences,” said Adam Slater, a partner at Slater Slater Schulman. “There is so much more that Uber can be doing to protect riders: adding cameras to deter assaults, performing more robust background checks on drivers, creating a warning system when drivers don’t stay on a path to a destination.”
The law firm is investigating at least 150 more cases.
Uber has faced several lawsuits against it from women alleging sexual assault by drivers. In 2018, it agreed to settle a class action case brought by two women who claimed they were taken advantage of by drivers after they had consumed alcohol.
Uber has long defended itself by asserting that it can’t be held responsible for behaviour of its drivers, who aren’t employees but rather are contractors. In its recent safety report, Uber said it conducts elaborate background checks of drivers before and during their time with the company.
The San Francisco-based company didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
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