A lawsuit against Uber claims that it failed to warn passengers about sexual assaults by “fake Uber drivers” even though the company was alerted by local law enforcement.
The suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court Friday, is being brought against Uber by three individuals all identified as Jane Does, according to CNN.
The suit alleges nine people in Los Angeles were sexually assaulted by fake drivers between September of 2016 and February of 2018 and Uber knew about the string of incidents after being notified by law enforcement, but didn’t do enough to protect its female passengers.
The lawsuit claims Uber has “egregiously chosen to hide and minimize” its safety problems, which often concern “young, intoxicated female passengers, the very demographic targeted by Uber’s safety marketing campaigns.”
Additionally, the suit alleges Uber makes it too easy for imposters to print the company’s logo at home and put it on their cars to trick passengers.
Uber in the lawsuit is being accused of negligence after the company was allegedly warned on at least five occasions of sexual assaults by drivers posing to be working for Uber.
The warnings came from the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the lawsuit claims.
“We have been working with local law enforcement, including the LAPD, to educate the public about how to avoid fake rideshare drivers for several years,” a spokesperson for Uber told The Hill in a statement. “In 2017, we launched a national campaign to remind riders to make sure they get in the right car by checking the information, like the license plate and car make and model, shown in the app. These important reminders have been part of our safety tips, and our law enforcement team regularly discusses this issue with agencies across the country.”
The lawsuit comes just a week after a female student from the University of South Carolina was kidnapped and killed when she entered a car that she thought was an Uber she ordered.
Samantha Josephson was leaving a bar near campus late at night when she was last seen, bringing to light safety concerns associated with the popular ride-sharing company and how it identifies its drivers.