Uber Sexual Assault Lawyers To Meet With MDL Judge Next Week, in Advance of Upcoming Trial

Case status conference comes amid an ongoing series of early bellwether trials designed to gauge how juries may respond to evidence, and promote potential Uber sexual assault settlements that may resolve the litigation.

The U.S. District Judge presiding over thousands of Uber sexual assault lawsuits pending in the federal court system will meet with lawyers on June 30, as lawyers continue to prepare for the start of the next scheduled “bellwether” trial in September, which may help drive negotiations to settle the litigation.

The rideshare service currently faces more than 3,500 claims brought by women nationwide who say they were sexually assaulted, groped, molested, harassed, raped and sometimes kidnapped by Uber drivers, due to a lack of adequate safety measures that could have protected Uber passengers. Hundreds of similar claims have also been filed in state courts.

Each of the lawsuits involve similar allegations, indicating that Uber should have used stronger background checks, sexual harassment training for drivers, surveillance cameras in vehicles, and an option allowing passengers to choose the gender of their driver, all of which they say could have better protected them from assault.

Uber Sexual Assault Lawsuit MDL

Since October 2023, all Uber sexual assault lawsuits brought throughout the federal court system have been consolidated in the Northern District of California before U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, as part of a multidistrict litigation (MDL).

Over the past three years, Judge Breyer has been guiding the parties through coordinated discovery, pretrial proceedings, and a series of early “bellwether” trials, which are designed to see how juries respond to evidence and testimony that is likely to be repeated throughout the claims.

Several trials have already been held at the state and federal level, but the outcomes have failed to provide a clear picture on which direction the litigation will go. Therefore, Uber sexual assault lawyers are closely watching the next federal trial set to begin in September, which may promote negotiations to resolve the litigation without the need for each individual case to be set for trial.

The first federal trial, held in February, resulted in an $8.5 million verdict after the jury determined Uber drivers are agents of the company under common carrier laws. However, the jury rejected claims of negligence on the company’s behalf and refused to award punitive damages.

A second bellwether trial ended in April, with plaintiff Brianna Mensing being awarded $5,000. Mensing never stated a dollar amount for damages and testified during trial that she wanted an apology from Uber more than she wanted money.

In September 2025, a jury in California state court found Uber negligent in protecting its passengers, but not liable for an attack on the plaintiff, with no damages being awarded.

Third Uber Lawsuit Federal Bellwether Trial

Last month, the Court announced that the next Uber federal bellwether trial will begin on September 14, 2026, involving claims by a woman identified only as B.L., who alleges an Uber driver raped her in the backseat of his vehicle in August 2022. She indicates Uber rehired the driver in another state despite a warrant out for his arrest.

According to a text-only docket entry, the parties met for a case management conference on June 16, determining that jury selection for the trial will begin the week of September 8. The trial will be held in the District of Texas. Judge Breyer ordered the parties to submit a joint case management statement updating the court on the case’s readiness by June 26.

The next case management conference is scheduled for June 30.

While the outcomes of these bellwether trials will not be binding on other claims, the results are being closely watched to find a trend in juries’ interpretations of the strengths and weaknesses of both sides’ arguments, in hopes of finding enough commonality to help the parties in settlement negotiations.

However, if no Uber sexual assault lawsuit settlement or other resolution is reached by the end of the bellwether trials and pretrial proceedings, Judge Breyer would likely begin remanding cases back to the federal district courts where they originated to be prepared for individual trials.

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