Group of 20 Uber Driver Sexual Assault Lawsuits Will Be Prepared for Bellwether Trials in Dec. 2025

Judge has largely adopted plaintiffs’ proposal for selecting potential Uber sexual assault lawsuits that will be eligible to serve as early test cases in MDL.

The U.S. District Judge presiding over all Uber driver sexual assault lawsuits brought throughout the federal court system has directed the parties to each identify 10 potential bellwether cases by February 14, 2025, which will go through case specific discovery and preparations for a series of early test trials, the first of which is expected to begin on December 8, 2025.

The rideshare service currently faces more than 1,400 lawsuits filed in U.S. District Courts nationwide by passengers who say they were sexually harassed, assaulted, or raped by Uber drivers while trying to use the service. Hundreds more are currently pending at the state level in California, where Uber is headquartered.

Each of the lawsuits raise alarmingly similar allegations, indicating that plaintiffs were sexually assaulted by Uber drivers, and seek to hold the rideshare company accountable for failing to take appropriate safety precautions that could have prevented sexual predators from targeting passengers on a regular basis.

Given common questions of fact and law raised in the federal lawsuits, an Uber driver sexual assault MDL (Multidistrict Litigation) was established in October 2023, centralizing all claims before U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer in the Northern District of California, for coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings, which is expected to culminate with a series of “bellwether” test trials.

To help the parties gauge how juries may respond to certain evidence and testimony that will be repeated throughout the litigation, Judge Breyer previously called for the parties to file a joint statement outlining a bellwether selection process. However, since they were unable to agree on a process, competing proposals were submitted earlier this month.

In a pretrial order (PDF) issued on December 12, Judge Breyer largely adopted the process and timeline proposed by plaintiffs, directing each side to select a group of 10 plaintiffs for inclusion in a bellwether discovery pool by February 14, 2025, for a total of 20 potential cases.

Plaintiffs in this group of 20 Uber driver sexual assault lawsuits will then file amended complaints by March 14, 2025, after which case-specific discovery will begin.

The pretrial order includes a detailed schedule of events to get the cases ready for trial, with discovery closing on September 22, 2025, Daubert and dispositive motions due by October 8 and the first bellwether trial scheduled to begin on December 8, 2025.

While the outcome of any bellwether trials in the MDL will not be binding on other claims, average Uber sexual assault lawsuit payouts awarded by juries may influence later settlement agreements. If no Uber sexual assault lawsuit settlement is reached, each individual claim may be remanded back to the U.S. District Court where it was originally filed for a future trial date.