First Uber Driver Sexual Assault Bellwether Trial Will Move Forward as Planned: Court

A lawsuit filed by Jaylynn Dean is scheduled to begin next Tuesday in Arizona federal court, as the first of six early test trials involving allegations that Uber drivers sexually assaulted passengers.

A federal judge has rejected Uber’s request to delay the first MDL bellwether trial involving claims that the rideshare service fails to protect passengers from driver sexual assaults, setting the stage for a closely watched trial to begin next week, which may help gauge how juries will respond to certain evidence and testimony likely to be repeated in thousands of similar claims.

Former passengers, almost entirely women, have filed more than 3,000 Uber driver sexual assault lawsuits in recent years, each seeking to hold the rideshare company responsible for damages sustained when passengers were sexually harassed, assaulted, or even kidnapped and raped by drivers who were never properly vetted or trained.

The plaintiffs accuse Uber of failing to implement more than bare minimum background checks on its drivers, saying the company did not train drivers in sexual harassment and assault awareness, place surveillance cameras in vehicles, give customers the option of choosing the gender of their drivers, nor put in place other measures that could have protected passengers.

Early in the litigation, as claims continued to be filed in federal courts nationwide, an Uber driver sexual assault lawsuit multidistrict litigation (MDL) was established in the Northern District of California, which centralized claims brought nationwide before U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, who is presiding over coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings.

To help promote a resolution for the claims, Judge Breyer directed the parties to prepare six claims for Uber passenger assault lawsuit bellwether trials, which are expected to begin over the next few months. The first federal trial, involving claims by Jaylynn Dean, is scheduled to get underway on January 13, in Phoenix, Arizona.

However, in early December, Uber filed a motion calling for the trial to be delayed until an ongoing commercial campaign is removed from the airways, which is known as “Every 8 Minutes,” highlighting the frequency that women are sexually assaulted or harassed by Uber drivers.

Defendants argued that the ads could bias potential jurors if they are broadcast during jury selection. They also asked to expand the questioning period for jurors and for the Court to implement a ban on the ad campaign in any district holding bellwether trials.

In a short response issued on January 5, Judge Breyer rejected the motion (PDF), saying that he made the decision after reviewing the motion, the opposition papers and applicable law.

Uber Lawsuit Final Trial Briefs Filed

On the same day, both parties turned in final briefs before the trial, laying out their cases and questions of law they expect to be at issue.

The Plaintiffs’ Final Trial Brief (PDF) cautions the court against placing too many restrictions on jurors, anticipating that defendants will try to have broad categories of individuals barred. The brief notes that, for example, excluding people from the juror pool because they experienced sexual violence “would eliminate an enormous swath of potential jurors, predominantly women.”

The brief indicates that such jurors can be “rehabilitated” simply by explaining impartiality and an inquiry into whether the jurors can follow the court’s instructions.

Defendants’ Final Trial Brief (PDF) continues to litigate its rejected motions for summary judgment, and seeks numerous descriptions of phrases and language it considers inflammatory to jurors. The brief argues that Arizona law should prevent plaintiffs from being able to use terms like “Uber drivers,” “Uber riders,” and references to Uber hiring and firing drivers.

Uber Driver Sexual Assault Bellwether Lawsuits

Judge Breyer’s ruling clears the way for the first bellwether trial to begin in a few days. The Uber bellwether trials are designed to be representative of the litigation as a whole, giving the parties a chance to see how juries respond to evidence and testimony that would likely be identical in thousands of claims.

However, in addition to the claims filed at the federal level, hundreds of similar complaints have also been brought in California state court, which held its first Uber driver sexual assault lawsuit trial in September. Although jurors indicated Uber was negligent in failing to protect passengers, they also found that negligence did not substantially contribute to the attack and thus the company was not liable for damages.

While the results of these early test trials will not be binding on other cases, they are being closely watched and are likely to have a significant impact on any Uber sexual assault settlement negotiations. However, if no global resolution is reached after the bellwether trials, Judge Breyer is likely to begin remanding individual claims back to their originating districts for early trial dates.

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