Uber Faces Lawsuit Indicating Driver Raped Passenger After Using Wife’s Account

Lawsuit says rideshare platform should have done more to confirm the identity of Florida woman’s driver.

The rideshare service Uber faces a lawsuit by a Florida woman who says she was raped by a man driving under his wife’s account.

The complaint (PDF) was filed in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court on July 1, by a woman identified only as I.J.R. to protect her anonymity. 

The lawsuit names several defendants, including Uber Technologies, as well as Ernesto Borbon Jr., the driver who allegedly assaulted her. It also lists Mayelin Borbon, the registered owner of the Uber account used during the ride, and El Nuevo Rinconcito Lounge, where IJR claims she was served excessive alcohol to the point of near-incapacitation.

IJR’s lawsuit joins more than 2,000 similar Uber sexual assault lawsuits, primarily brought through the federal court system, by former users who indicate they were sexually harassed, assaulted or raped by Uber drivers.

The lawsuits claim the company prioritized profits over passenger safety by skimping on safety features, such as driver background checks and in-vehicle surveillance, that could have prevented drivers from assaulting vulnerable plaintiffs while using the service. Plaintiffs also argue the company should have let passengers request drivers by gender or taken other common-sense measures to protect passengers or weed out potential sexual predators.

IJR’s lawsuit claims she was assaulted on November 13, 2023, after becoming heavily intoxicated at El Nuevo Rinconcito Lounge and ordering a ride through the Uber app. Although the app showed her driver as Mayelin Borbon, her husband Ernesto arrived instead, allegedly driving under his wife’s name and account.

The complaint notes that IJR originally used the app to request a ride for a completely different driver, but that driver never arrived, so she cancelled her request. It was then that Uber assigned a new driver, Mayelin Borbon, to provide IJR with transportation, however it was Borbon’s husband who showed up behind the wheel.

Borbon allegedly stopped for beer, then pulled down a side street and raped IJR, according to the complaint.

According to the complaint, at no point in its transactions with customers does Uber confirm that the person providing the rideshare service is actually an approved Uber driver. They also never ask drivers whether others in their household will be using the vehicle and accepting passengers, the lawsuit notes.

The lawsuit also points out that Uber has a “Real-Time ID Check” feature that occasionally requires an Uber driver to upload a photo of themselves before continuing to accept passengers. Despite the existence of this feature, Uber did not use it to confirm Mayelin Borbon was the person actually using her account.

“Thus, the Uber defendants, as a transportation company and common carrier, are directly liable for their negligent hiring, retention and supervision of their driver/agent Mayelin K. Borbon, such that Ernesto Borbon was permitted to hold himself out as an Uber driver/agent operating as its rideshare driver using Mayelin K. Borbon’s vehicle and Uber account, and vicariously liable for tortious conduct against I.J.R.”

–I.J.R. v. Uber Technologies Inc. et al

IJR presents claims of assault, battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress against Ernesto Borbon, Jr. She presents claims of negligence against Mayelin Borbon. The lawsuit also presents claims of negligence against Uber and the lounge.

Uber Driver Sexual Assault Lawsuits

While IJR’s lawsuit is filed at the state level, 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. These “bellwether” trials are designed to help gauge how juries may respond to certain evidence and testimony that will be repeated throughout the lawsuits.

In May, 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.

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.

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.