Uber and Lyft experience up to 1,000 lawsuits saying motorists sexually assaulted or harassed passengers, in some cases when the passengers ended up asleep

© Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto by using Getty Picture
Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto by way of Getty Image

• A California regulation firm plans to file up to 1,000 sexual assault lawsuits against Uber and Lyft, KPIX claimed.
• Attorneys from Levin Simes Abrams reported some conditions involve stories of motorists assaulting sleeping females.
• The agency has known as for necessary surveillance cameras in cars to deter assaults.
• See a lot more tales on Insider’s company web page.

Uber and Lyft could confront almost 1,000 individual lawsuits saying that motorists sexually assaulted and harassed passengers, lawyers at business Levin Simes Abrams informed KPIX Wednesday.

The San Francisco-based regulation firm just lately submitted 85 lawsuits in opposition to Uber, typically in San Francisco County Outstanding Court, with 321 instances pending, and filed much more than 20 lawsuits from Lyft, with 517 instances pending, attorneys explained to KPIX.

About one third of these circumstances represented California people, business companions Rachel Abrams and Laurel Simes also advised KRON in a individual job interview on Wednesday.

Abrams and Simes explained to KRON that the 85 instances submitted from Uber would not be joined alongside one another in a class-motion lawsuit, for the reason that the aspects and severity of each individual circumstance diversified significantly.

The legal professionals explained to KRON that hundreds of women of all ages came forward with claims of sexual assault and harassment immediately after the organization took on its initial scenario towards Uber in 2019. In some cases, the girls claimed drivers assaulted them when they were asleep or intoxicated, the attorneys said.

Firm lawyer Meghan McCormick instructed KPIX in an interview that some motorists stand accused of ending rides early on the app “so it appears to be to any person looking at, or to Uber, as if they did particularly what they’re intended to do.” They then travel the passenger “to a deserted position,” she explained.

Abrams explained to KPIX that 99% of assaults “would be prevented if there was a camera.”

The ride-hailing applications declared in a joint statement in March that they would share details with every other on motorists who experienced been banned from their platforms for “the most critical security incidents,” which includes sexual assaults and physical assaults that resulted in death.

In 2019, Uber released its initial basic safety report, which said there experienced been 3,045 sexual assault stories on its US platform, out of 2.3 billion excursions, concerning 2017 and 2018.

Uber said in a statement to KRON: “We stay steadfast in our determination to support victims and support halt sexual violence by collaborating with specialists, revolutionary safety tech alternatives, and environment the regular on transparency and accountability.”

Uber, Lyft, and Levin Simes Abrams did not immediately reply to Insider’s ask for for comment.