Uber Sexual Assault Settlement Talks Continue as Lawyers Prepare for More Trials

Outcomes of upcoming state and federal bellwether trials for sexual assault lawsuits could have a significant impact on the shape of any larger Uber settlement agreement to resolve claims brought by former passengers.

As preparations continue for a number of Uber sexual assault lawsuits expected to go before juries over the next year, lawyers indicate they are periodically meeting with a retired judge for on-going settlement talks, as part of an effort to avoid the need for hundreds of lengthy and expensive trials to be held in state and federal courts nationwide.

According to recent court documents, the rideshare service faces more than 2,800 complaints brought throughout the federal court system, each involving former passengers who were allegedly harassed, assaulted, kidnapped and/or raped by drivers due to the company’s constant practice of placing profits ahead of customer safety.

The lawsuits have mostly been filed by former female passengers, who say the rideshare service conducted only the bare minimum background checks on its drivers, and failed to train them in sexual harassment and assault awareness and prevention, failed to place surveillance cameras in vehicles, and failed to provide women with an option to select the gender of their driver.

The federal cases are consolidated into an Uber sexual assault lawsuit multidistrict litigation (MDL) under U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in the Northern District of California, while Uber also faces hundreds of similar claims pending in California state court, including several expected to go to trial in the coming months, to help gauge how juries may respond to certain evidence and testimony likely to be repeated throughout the litigation.

Judge Breyer, who is overseeing coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings for the federal litigation, has ordered the parties to prepare six Uber passenger assault lawsuits for bellwether trials, indicating that a claim brought by Jaylynn Dean will be the first to go before a jury beginning on January 7, 2026.

On October 29, parties submitted a joint case management statement (PDF) to update the judge before a conference held on Friday, indicating that Uber currently faces a total of 2,804 sexual assault lawsuits in federal court, and another 750 in California state court.

However, even as the parties detailed plans for jury selection and questionnaires, and opening statements, they also indicated that plaintiffs and defendants continue to meet “periodically” with a special master to hold settlement negotiations in hopes of reaching an agreement to resolve the litigation without the need for trials.

Uber Bellwether Trial Results

The very first Uber sexual assault lawsuit trial concluded in California state court in late September, with the jury determining that Uber was negligent in its protection of passengers, while also concluding that the negligence did not substantially contribute to the attack and was thus not liable for damages. The next California state trial is scheduled for April 4, 2026.

The mixed outcome in this case leaves uncertainty over how juries will respond in the trials ahead, which are likely to revisit many of the same arguments about Uber’s responsibility for passenger safety.

The results of these early test cases will be closely watched and are likely to have a significant impact on the ongoing negotiations. However, if no Uber sexual assault settlement agreement is reached after the bellwether trials, Judge Breyer is likely to begin remanding individual claims back to their originating districts for early trial dates.

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