Uber Sex Abuse Lawsuits Selected for Bellwether Discovery and Test Trials in MDL

Twenty separate lawsuits involving passengers sexually assaulted or abused by Uber drivers will be prepared for early bellwether trials, to help gauge how jurors respond to allegations that will be repeated in the litigation.

Plaintiffs and defendants involved in Uber sex abuse lawsuits have each identified cases for work up as potential “bellwether” trials, which involve allegations that the rideshare company failed to take critical steps that could have prevented passengers from being attacked, assaulted, or even raped by Uber drivers.

Uber currently faces more than 1,500 lawsuits brought throughout the federal court system by passengers who indicate they were sexually assaulted, harassed, or raped by drivers after ordering rides from the company’s app. Hundreds of additional claims have also been filed in California state court, where Uber’s headquarters are located.

Each of the lawsuits raise disturbingly similar allegations, describing situations where vulnerable riders were sexually assaulted by Uber drivers, some of which were known sexual predators or had exhibited behaviors that should have been discovered by the rideshare company. The plaintiffs each seek to hold the rideshare service accountable for its failures to take appropriate action to prevent sexual predators from targeting passengers.

Given common questions of fact and law raised in the federal lawsuits, an Uber sex abuse MDL, or multidistrict litigation was formed in October 2023, centralizing the claims before U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer in the Northern District of California, for coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings.

To manage the rapidly expanding litigation, Judge Breyer has established a “bellwether” process, where the parties were directed to identify representative claims that will be prepared for early test trials, to help gauge how juries are likely to respond to evidence and expert testimony that will likely be repeated throughout the litigation.

In December 2024, Judge Breyer called on lawyers to identify a group of 20 Uber sex abuse lawsuits, with each side selecting 10 cases to go through case-specific discovery, expert work-up and pretrial motions, before a smaller number of claims are scheduled for jury trials in the future.

Both plaintiffs (PDF) and defendants (PDF) turned in their lists on February 21, with each side indicating that their selections provide a representative sample of the litigation as a whole.

While the specific factual circumstances in each of the lawsuits are different, they each raise nearly identical allegations of wrongdoing by Uber, indicating that passengers could have avoided being sexually assaulted or abused by drivers if simple security measures had been employed.

One of the 10 cases selected by the plaintiffs involves a complaint (PDF) filed by a Maryland woman, who is only identified by the initials “C.L.”, indicating that she was assaulted after ordering a ride in August 2023. The Uber driver allegedly groped her thighs during the ride, and masturbated in front of her. When the attack was reported, the plaintiff indicates that all Uber did was offer her a refund, and promised not to match her with that driver again.

Lawsuits maintain that Uber should be held responsible for the sexual abuse acts of their drivers since it owed a duty of care to passengers, requiring it to take reasonable steps to ensure the safety and well being of customers. Plaintiffs point to inadequate screening and background checks, a lack of training and safety equipment, including cameras inside of vehicles. In addition, plaintiffs maintain that Uber failed to properly investigate or address reports of abuse or misconduct by drivers, prioritizing profits and growth over passenger safety.

For the next step in the bellwether process, each of the 20 selected plaintiffs have been directed to file amended complaints outlining additional details of their sexual assault by Uber drivers, which are due by March 14, 2025. After that, the parties will move forward with case-specific discovery, including depositions of witnesses and parties. The first Uber sex abuse lawsuit bellwether trial is expected to begin on December 8, 2025.

While the outcome of the early trials in the MDL will not be binding on other claims, average lawsuit payouts awarded by juries may influence later Uber sexual assault settlement agreements that the rideshare company agrees to pay to avoid hundreds of individual cases being remanded back to the U.S. District Court nationwide for future trial dates.