A Los Angeles woman who alleges she was raped by her Uber driver filed a lawsuit against the ride-hailing company.
The Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit, filed Thursday, alleges Uber was negligent for failing to adequately investigate its drivers’ backgrounds and placing its customers, many of them young women, in danger.
The lawsuit alleges that Uber markets its services as safe and reliable, but fails to properly screen its driver-employees. Scores of other women throughout the world allege that they, too, have been sexually assaulted by their improperly screened Uber drivers, according to the lawsuit.
An Uber representative did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment.
The plaintiff, now 27, used her smart phone on July 21, 2014, to summon an Uber driver after having a few drinks with friends, according to her attorneys. She asked for a ride to her boyfriend’s residence, but never arrived. The lawsuit contends that the woman was raped by her Uber driver while she was unconscious.
The last thing the woman remembers from that night is taking a sip from a water bottle provided by her driver, the suit states.
The driver, Walter Alberto Ponce, pleaded no contest to sexual battery and was sentenced to six months in jail and probation.
— City News Service