Uber Driver Background Check Materials Must Be Produced in Sexual Assault Lawsuits: Court

Order comes as six Uber driver sexual assault lawsuits continue to be prepared for early test trials in the federal MDL.

A federal magistrate judge presiding over pretrial proceedings in a group of Uber sexual assault lawsuits being prepared to go before juries later this year has ordered several third-party companies who worked with the rideshare service to turn over materials related to background checks conducted on drivers accused of attacking or harassing passengers.

The bellwether claims raise allegations similar to those being presented in more than 2,000 lawsuits filed against Uber throughout the federal court system, indicating that the company prioritized profits over the safety of passengers, by only conducting cursory background checks on drivers and failing to enact various different safety measures that could have prevented known predators from assaulting vulnerable plaintiffs while using their service.

In addition to failing to conduct thorough background checks on Uber drivers, plaintiffs also allege that their attacks could have been avoided if the rideshare service had required surveillance cameras be installed in vehicles, let passengers request drivers by gender, or taken other common-sense measures to protect passengers or weed out potential sexual predators.

Since October 2023, the federal litigation has been consolidated as part of an Uber driver sexual assault MDL in the Northern District of California, where U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer has been presiding over coordinated discovery and preparing a small group of representative claims for early trial dates, to help gauge how juries may respond to certain evidence and testimony that will be repeated throughout the lawsuits.

Last month, Judge Breyer selected six Uber driver assault lawsuits for the first wave of bellwether trials, which are expected to get underway on December 8, 2025.

Uber Third-Party Background Check Records

As lawyers continue to prepare for the cases to go before juries, Magistrate Judge Lisa J. Cisneros issued a court order (PDF) on June 12, authorizing Chekr, Inc. and Accurate Background, LLC to turn over records on background checks they conducted on Uber drivers who are accused of assaulting passengers in the bellwether cases. The order was in response to a motion by the plaintiffs, seeking to gain access to those records.

The two companies worked for Uber as third-party contractors, but have argued that the documents are “consumer reports,” which federal law prevents from being disclosed in most cases. However, Plaintiffs maintained that the jurisdiction of a court order is specifically exempted from that law, and Magistrate Cisneros agreed.

“Judge Breyer has already determined that the subject drivers’ background checks ‘will be highly relevant’ and warrant production as part of Uber’s Defendant Fact Sheets to the extent they are in Uber’s custody or control,” Magistrate Judge Cisneros wrote. “Background check materials in Uber’s contactors’ possession are similarly relevant to the case and also warrant production.”

However, Magistrate Cisneros noted that the documents would be designated “attorneys’-eyes-only” by default, unless there was a court order to the contrary, or both the driver and the contractor agreed to provide wider access.

While the outcomes of these bellwether trials will not have any binding effect on other claims in the MDL, they will be closely watched by parties involved in the litigation and the average lawsuit payouts awarded by juries may have a substantial impact on any Uber sexual assault settlement negotiations, which will be necessary to avoid hundreds of individual cases being remanded back to U.S. District Courts nationwide for future trial dates.