Attorneys Appointed to Leadership Positions in Uber Sexual Assault MDL

The U.S. District Judge presiding over all Uber sexual assault lawsuits filed in federal courts nationwide has appointed a group of 11 plaintiffs’ attorneys to serve in various leadership positions in the consolidated multidistrict litigation (MDL), including three women who will serve as co-lead counsel.

About 150 lawsuits have been filed against Uber, each raising similar allegations that the rideshare app disregarded the safety of passengers by failing to take appropriate safety precautions and failing to conduct background checks to prevent sexual predators from working as drivers. However, it is ultimately expected that hundreds, if not thousands, of claims will be pursued in the coming years.

Although Uber implemented “Safe Ride Fees” in 2014, plaintiffs maintain that the company never used that money to actually make its passengers safer, providing only cursory background checks for drivers. The company also failed to provide surveillance cameras inside of cars, did not allow passengers to make requests regarding the gender of drivers, and failed to train drivers on issues of sexual assault and harassment.

Given common questions of fact and law raised in complaints filed in various different federal courts, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) consolidated all Uber sexual assault cases in October, centralizing the litigation before U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer in the Northern District of California, as part of an MDL or multidistrict litigation.

In a pretrial order (PDF) issued on December 6, Judge Breyer appointed 11 plaintiffs’ attorneys to serve in leadership positions during the coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings. The appointments include three co-lead counsel, one of whom also serves as Plaintiffs’ Liaison Counsel, one to the position of Plaintiffs’ Federal/State Liaison Counsel, and seven attorneys will serve as the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee.

The Uber sexual assault lawyers selected for leadership positions will be tasked with coordinating status updates for the court, arguing certain pretrial motions, conducting discovery and depositions into common issues that impact all claims, and potentially negotiating a framework for Uber settlements that may help resolve large numbers of claims. However, each individual plaintiff will still retain their own lawyer to meet various deadlines and establish that they meet the criteria for a Uber sexual assault lawsuit payout.

December 2023 Uber Sexual Assault Lawsuit Update

Each individual Uber sexual assault lawsuit has been transferred to Judge Breyer for pretrial proceedings, and it is expected that a series of bellwether trial will be scheduled to help the parties gauge how juries may respond to certain evidence and testimony that will be repeated throughout the litigation. However, those trials could be unnecessary if the parties are able to reach an Uber sexual assault lawsuit settlement agreement.

In the pretrial order, Judge Breyer ordered the parties to “promptly” meet and confer with defendants to help develop a discovery plan, protective order, and a schedule for filing a long-form complaint and for briefing motions to dismiss. He called for the parties to submit their proposals by December 14.

The next case management conference will be held on January 12, 2024.

Following the coordinated pretrial proceedings before Judge Beyer in the MDL, if Uber sexual assault settlements are not reached to resolve large numbers of cases, each individual lawsuit may later be returned back to the U.S. District Court where it was originally filed for trial in the future.