A woman has filed a lawsuit against Uber, saying that she experienced pain, suffering, and economic damages after she was sexually assaulted by her Uber driver in 2018.

The Uber sexual assault lawsuit alleged that the driver asked the woman if she was single, and if she liked being single. At this point, the Uber sexual assault lawsuit says that the passenger began recording the conversation. Allegedly, the driver then reached into the back seat and began touching the passenger, and told her that she looked “so nice.”

The Uber sexual assault lawsuit says that the passenger then told the driver to immediately let her out of the car. She reported to the Seattle police that the driver charged her $60 in addition to the regular cost of her ride to let her out of his vehicle. 

Allegedly, the Seattle woman had to undergo treatment after the incident. She claims that she endured pain and suffering as well as economic loss because of the incident, and seeks to hold Uber liable for these injuries. She seeks damages to cover these injuries, reports the Independent.

KIRO7 reports that the Seattle police is investigating the incident. Reportedly, the Uber driver in question has not been arrested, but is thought to be living in Texas.

This is not the first lawsuit filed by an Uber passenger, saying that they were sexually assaulted or harassed by their driver. In Chicago, a passenger filed a lawsuit against her Uber driver, saying that he had assaulted her. 

Allegedly, he made inappropriate, sexual remarks to her. The Independent reports that he asked the passenger if she would like to become a sex worker. Then, the driver allegedly turned off the Uber app and subjected the passenger to sexual abuse in a parking lot.

After the woman filed a lawsuit against the Chicago Uber driver, he was found guilty of sexual assault. Additionally, the man allegedly had tried to hire another person to “hurt or silence” the passenger.

KIRO7 says Uber reported on the number of sexual assaults that had occurred in 2017 and 2018. KIRO7 says that Uber reported that almost 6,000 reported assaults had allegedly occurred between passengers and drivers during that two-year period. The New York Times notes that the 3,045 reported sexual assaults that occurred in 2018 represent less than 0.0002 percent of Uber’s 1.3 billion rides given in 2018. 

The New York Times states that safety is a weak point for ride-hailing services, noting that the fact that many ride services allowed many people to become drivers was a large part of the model’s success.

Uber has reportedly taken several steps to better protect its riders from such incidents. In Canada, Uber has introduced a new system which will let riders use a PIN number to verify that the driver of an Uber is really their driver, and not an imposter.

The Independent explains that under this system, a rider receives a pin before their Uber arrives. The rider then relays the PIN to the driver, who enters the PIN into the app so the ride can begin. 

This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.