Uber drivers groped at least 27 passengers, exposed themselves, and, in one case, raped a woman in the backseat, two new lawsuits allege.
The complaints, filed separately Monday in San Francisco Superior Court, blame Uber for failing to update its protections for customers despite acknowledging years earlier that drivers were sexually assaulting passengers.
“Uber has fraudulently marketed itself as a safer, better alternative to other methods of transportation, particularly targeting young, intoxicated women and late-night riders with false representations that it enforces state-of-the-art safety policies and procedures,” said one lawsuit brought by 21 women and two men for incidents that allegedly took place from 2017 to 2024 in California and New York.
The unnamed victims include a woman who said she was raped in the backseat of an Uber driver’s car, a woman who was hospitalized after the car she was in became involved in a T-bone crash as the driver tried to grope her thighs, a man who said an Uber driver stalked him after sexually assaulting him, and women who said drivers exposed themselves.
In the other lawsuit, filed by three women and a man, one plaintiff said a driver touched her breasts, another said a driver refused to let her exit the car after touching her thighs, and another said a driver forcibly kissed her. The male plaintiff said a driver tried to grope his genitals.
Both suits accuse Uber of negligence and other types of wrongdoing. Both cite a 2019 safety report produced by the company that admitted there had been sexual assaults by drivers.
The suits further allege that Uber failed to thoroughly screen applicants seeking to become drivers. They say the company misrepresented itself by claiming to offer a safe method of transportation.
Uber declined to comment on the lawsuits but said it is trying to improve safety.
“Sexual assault is a tragic crime, and we take any report of this nature very seriously,” a company spokesperson said by email. “While we cannot comment on pending litigation, we are committed to keeping safety at the forefront of everything we do by building features and policies to help make the platform safer for all users.”