November 8, 2024
A major rideshare company faces a class action lawsuit owing to hundreds of allegations of sexual assault occurring during rides. The company has faced thousands of complaints of riders facing sexual assault or harassment by drivers during rides.
As such, the Northern District of California has consolidated the many lawsuits stemming from this issue into a class action lawsuit. Representatives for the cases claim the rideshare company failed in its duty to suitably vet drivers for the service. They maintain that the company did not perform the necessary steps to keep the app safe for users, such as adding safety features or banning drivers with a history of offenses from the platform.
The company received thousands of complaints about sexual assault and harassment ranging from 2017-2020. However, they have not publicly released data on the number of complaints from other years. Regardless, hundreds of lawsuits have appeared due to such experiences. Many of these suits demand that the courts hold the company liable for negligence from its failure to screen drivers comprehensively. These cases claim that such screening could have prevented these incidents.
The class action suit currently represents over a thousand plaintiffs. It is also open to including those with assault or injury claims against drivers when using the rideshare service. As such, some expect the number of plaintiffs to grow by thousands due to the significant number of recorded complaints.
The lawsuit claimed that the rideshare company neglected to take sufficient measures to protect passengers from sexual assault and harassment. They maintain that the company’s platform did not set up proper safety procedures, failed to screen drivers applying sufficiently, did not collect drivers’ fingerprints as a part of background checks, and allowed people with a public record of abuse to work on the platform. As such, the plaintiffs’ representatives demanded that the company immediately remedy these issues and begin screening drivers with comprehensive background checks.
According to the class action lawsuit, many passengers reported various physical injuries and unwanted sexual contact by drivers. In most cases, the non-consensual acts happened during or after the ride. The case includes the following as assault injuries for anyone who has encountered similar encounters with rideshare drivers:
- Indecent exposure,
- Kidnapping,
- Molestation or groping,
- Physical assault,
- Rape or attempted rape,
- Touching or kissing,
- Sodomy
This case demonstrates the importance of reliable background screening for any company. Allegations of failure to screen employees, partners, or contractors represent a severe potential for litigation and associated costs. Rigorous background checks offer an opportunity to prevent possible future legal action, while insufficient screenings risk similar lawsuits.
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