Originally published by By Brant Stogner.
A federal judge said two women whom allege sexual assault against Uber drivers can to sue the company for the alleged attacks. One sexual assault allegation comes out of South Carolina and the other from Boston. In San Francisco, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston stated the accusations of sexual assault made against the Uber drivers may be valid due to the possibility that the drivers were acting in the scope of their employment when the crimes occurred. Uber argued that the divers are independent contractors, the company is not responsible for their actions, and the lawsuits should be dismissed. In addition, Uber made the argument that one of the drivers may not have even used the company cellphone app before the alleged assault, further indicating he was not working for Uber at the time of the alleged incident, independent contractor or not.
Judge Illston tossed out a negligence claim related to one of the accused drivers but rejected Uber’s request to dismiss the lawsuits entirely. Additionally, Judge Illston allowed the women to pursue punitive damages and fraud against Uber. The company declined to comment on the Judge’s ruling.
A few weeks ago, Uber settled major class-action lawsuits in California and Massachusetts. Prosecutors alleged that the San-Francisco based company mislead the public about the quality of its driver background checks. Uber agreed to pay $10 million to settle allegations made by California prosecutors in early April.
If you or someone you know was injured or killed in an accident involving a Lyft or Uber driver or any other type of driver, it is important to understand your right to recover. Contact an attorney at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Sorrels, Agosto & Friend by calling 713-222-7211 or toll free at 1-800-870-9584 for a confidential consultation.
Curated by Texas Bar Today. Follow us on Twitter @texasbartoday.
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