In Hawai’i and across the U.S., Uber and Lyft are facing a growing outcry for their failures to protect passengers from driver harassment and sexual assault.
Rideshare companies are being hit with lawsuits from passengers raising serious concerns about their safety precautions and driver screening processes. Galiher DeRobertis & Waxman filed the first such lawsuit in Hawai’i.
“Rideshare companies have failed to take even the most fundamental steps to protect passengers. The reason is simple: these companies are placing profit over passenger safety," said firm co-founder Ilana Waxman.
According to the lawsuits, the companies have neglected to conduct thorough background checks on drivers and ignored previous complaints of driver misconduct. Many victims alleging sexual assault also claim that the rideshare companies failed to implement sufficient safety measures to ensure that passengers are protected.
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Sexual assault lawsuits against Uber filed by nearly 1,500 plaintiffs in at least 29 states were recently consolidated in multidistrict litigation.
In filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Uber acknowledged that its own data shows thousands of trips ended with reports of sexual misconduct or sex crimes, which could harm the company’s ability to attract passengers and cause “future damage to our brand.”
“There have been numerous incidents and allegations worldwide of drivers, or individuals impersonating drivers, sexually assaulting, abusing, kidnapping and/or fatally injuring consumers,” the company said in its 2024 first quarter report. “If other criminal, inappropriate, or other negative incidents occur due to the conduct of platform users or third parties, our ability to attract platform users may be harmed, and our business and financial results could be adversely affected.”
According to Uber, between 2017 and 2020, more than 6,800 reports of sex crimes or sexual misconduct were reported during Uber trips. According to data made public by Lyft, there were more than 4,100 reports of sex crimes or sexual misconduct from users of the rideshare platform between 2017 and 2019.
Brooklyn resident Amber Moye is one of the passengers suing Uber, alleging her driver sexually assaulted her after she was intoxicated and fell asleep in the backseat in 2018.
“It’s really hard to process that that really happened to me,” she told Channel 4 News in New York. “All the thoughts that go through my head of what could have been happening to me during that time. It really hurts and it’s really traumatic.”
Uber and Lyft have stonewalled attempts to require California drivers to be fingerprinted, though many major U.S. cities across the country require similar practices for taxi drivers. Uber has argued that requiring background checks discourages drivers from signing up on the platform. The company has also claimed the FBI’s fingerprint database often contains incomplete or outdated information.
About Galiher DeRobertis & Waxman
Galiher DeRobertis & Waxman is a nationally renowned personal injury law firm dedicated to advocating for Hawai‘i families in personal injury and wrongful death cases involving mesothelioma, birth defects, herbicide and pesticide exposure, sex abuse and defective products, as well as fraud on government contracts. We are Hawai‘i attorneys who have been working on your behalf for over 40 years. To learn more how we can help or for a free consultation, contact us.
