Uber Class Action Says ‘Safest Ride’ Campaign Disparages Taxi Drivers

Uber is facing a class action lawsuit filed by a San Diego taxicab company that alleges Uber engaged in a false or misleading campaign to persuade customers to use Uber instead of taxis.

Plaintiff Delux Cab LLC is a taxi service that does business under the names of Nathan Cab, SDC Delux Cab and Lux Cab. According to the Uber class action lawsuit, Delux Cab operates seven taxicabs in San Diego.

The taxi company claims that Uber misled consumers into believing that Uber provides a safer transportation service than taxicabs.

Delux Cab accuses Uber of touting that it offers “the safest rides on the road” and has the “strictest safety standards possible.”

According to the Uber class action lawsuit, Uber also falsely stated that the background checks for Uber drivers were “rigorous” and followed “industry-leading standards.”

In addition, Uber allegedly charged millions of customers a $1 “Safe Rides Fee” per ride in order to increase customers’ expectations about the safety of Uber.

Delux Cab asserts that Uber’s disparaging remarks about taxicab services were “blatantly false and/or misleading,” and that its safety claims are not supported by empirical data.

“In fact, as has been widely reported by various news sources, there is very little reliable information available anywhere concerning the frequency of safety breaches in Uber rides or taxicab rides, including with respect to comparative statistics,” the Uber class action lawsuit states.

Delux Cab argues that taxicab drivers are generally subject to more rigorous safety training and other testing requirements than Uber drivers. Because of these heightened safety requirements, taxicabs are more likely to be a safer form of transportation than Uber, the lawsuit alleges.

Like most cities, San Diego requires taxi companies to perform fingerprint-based background checks on their drivers, according to Delux Cab. These background checks are reportedly run through the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigations. Uber does not perform such intensive background checks on its drivers, according to the plaintiff.

“Rather, potential Uber drivers are merely required to remotely provide certain personal information to the Company through Uber’s website, which Uber then sends to one or more third-party services to purportedly perform a background check,” the Uber class action lawsuit says.

Delux Cab argues that the background checks performed on Uber drivers have an “astonishing estimated error rate” of close to 43 percent, far higher than the estimated one percent error rate found for the background checks used by most taxi companies.

The Uber class action lawsuit points to a $25 million settlement reached by Uber to resolve a 2014 lawsuit filed by District Attorneys in San Francisco and Los Angeles. That Uber lawsuit reportedly centered on allegations that Uber misleadingly represented the quality of its background checks.

While investigating the Uber lawsuit, state investigators reportedly discovered that Uber failed to screen out more than two dozen drivers with criminal records, including drivers with convictions for kidnapping and murder.

By filing the Uber class action lawsuit, Delux Cab seeks to represent a Class that includes: “All persons or entities licensed or permitted to operate taxicab services in the City of San Diego, California, in the past four years.”

The plaintiffs are represented by Brian J. Robbins, Ashley R. Rifkin, Kevin A. Seeley and Leonid Kandinov of Robbins Arroyo LLP.

The Uber “Safest Ride” Class Action Lawsuit is Delux Cab LLC d/b/a Nathan Cab, SDC Delux Cab, and Lux Cab v. Uber Technologies Inc., et al., Case No. 3:16-cv-03057, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.