Uber Seeks To Transfer MDL Sexual Assault Lawsuits to Districts Where Attacks Occurred for Trial

Lawyers are preparing a group of claims for a early bellwether trials currently slated to begin in December 2025, which will help gauge how juries may respond to evidence that could be repeated in hundreds of claims.

The rideshare service Uber is asking for all federal bellwether trials involving claims that drivers sexually assaulted passengers to be conducted in the states where the offenses occurred, instead of in California, where they have been consolidated as part of a multidistrict litigation (MDL).

There are currently more than 2,000 Uber sexual assault lawsuits pending in the federal court system, each raising similar allegations that the rideshare service should be held accountable for the incidents because it failed to enact adequate measures to protect passengers, screen drivers, and prevent attacks.

Since October 2023, all complaints brought in various different U.S. District Courts have been consolidated as part of an Uber sexual assault MDL in the Northern District of California, where Judge Charles R. Breyer has been presiding over coordinated discovery and preparing a small group of cases for early trial dates.

To help gauge how juries may respond to certain evidence and testimony that will be repeated throughout the claims, Judge Breyer selected six Uber driver assault lawsuits for the first wave of bellwether trials earlier this month, indicating that the first case would begin in his court on December 8, 2025. However, Uber now indicates that each of those claims, as well as seven others on path for early trials, should be transferred to various different U.S. District Courts for separate trials outside the MDL.

The lawsuits come despite a “Safe Ride Fees” program launched by Uber in 2014. However, plaintiffs maintain the company never actually used the funds to increase passenger safety, instead providing only the most basic background checks for drivers. In addition, plaintiffs say Uber should have provided surveillance cameras in vehicles and should have allowed passengers to request drivers by gender, as well as put drivers through sexual assault and harassment awareness and training.

On May 16, Uber attorneys filed a motion (PDF) requesting that the 13 bellwether claims be transferred back to their originating states for trial, indicating that each of the passengers agreed with this by entering into the rideshare service’s Terms of Use.

“Uber’s Terms of Use include a forum-selection clause providing that all personal injury claims—including sexual assault or harassment claims like those alleged here—must be brought ‘exclusively in the state or federal courts in the State in which the incident or accident occurred’,” the motion states. “Uber requests that the Court enter an order enforcing this forum-selection clause in the bellwether cases.”

The company claims that all but one of the plaintiffs agreed to those Terms of Use, which Uber argues should be viewed as a valid and enforceable contract. 

Following a status conference held on Thursday, Judge Breyer issued an order (PDF) setting a briefing schedule for the motion, indicating that plaintiffs response must be filed by June 13, with any Uber reply due June 27.  The court will then schedule a hearing on the request in July 2025, if Judge Breyer determines it is necessary.

Regardless of where they are held, the outcomes of these bellwether trials will be closely watched by thousands of individuals pursuing sexual assault lawsuits against Uber. While they will not have any binding effect on other claims, the average lawsuit payouts awarded by juries are expected to have a substantial impact on any Uber sexual assault settlement negotiations, which will be necessary to avoid the need for hundreds of individual cases to be remanded back to U.S. District Courts nationwide for future trial dates.