The British Broadcasting Corporation reported on the 14th that about 550 women in multiple states in the United States filed a lawsuit against Uber on the 13th, accusing drivers of the platform of sexually assaulting them and claiming that Uber put "business growth before the saf

[Text/Observer Network Liu Chenghui]

Two days after the confidential documents were leaked, the American online ride-hailing giant "Uber" (Uber) is in trouble again.

"This is a shocking number, and the nature of these accusations is very serious." The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported on the 14th that about 550 women in multiple states in the United States filed a lawsuit against Uber on the 13th, accusing drivers of the platform of sexually assaulting them, and claiming that "Uber" put "business growth before the safety of customers." The plaintiff's law firm pointed out that in addition to the passengers who have filed lawsuits, at least 150 potential similar cases are under "active investigation."

BBC: 550 women accused of sexual assault by Uber platform drivers

According to the indictment filed by Slater Slater Schulman LLP in San Francisco, these female passengers were "kidnapped, sexually assaulted, sexually abused, raped, unlawfully detained, stalked, harassed or otherwise attacked by Uber platform drivers", and the incident involved "multiple states" across the United States.

The indictment also alleged that as early as 2014, "Uber" was aware that platform drivers had sexually assaulted or raped female passengers, but "Uber" still chose to put the growth of the company's business above the safety of its customers. Exactly eight years later, sexual predators on the Uber platform continue to attack passengers, including the plaintiffs who filed the lawsuit today.

Just two weeks before this complaint was filed, a safety report released by Uber showed that the platform received 998 reports of sexual assaults in 2020, including 141 reports of rape. Between 2019 and 2020, the company received a total of 3,824 reports involving the five most serious sexual assaults, including "non-consensual kissing of non-sexual body parts," "non-consensual sexual assault," and rape. The

report also pointed out that compared with 2017 to 2018, the number of reported sexual assault cases has dropped by 38%, but the report did not mention whether this is related to the reduction in the number of passengers due to the new crown epidemic.

In recent years, Uber has introduced a series of safety measures, such as screening drivers when they sign up for the platform and annually thereafter. However, Uber maintains that it should not be held responsible for drivers because they are considered independent contractors, not employees.

"Although Uber has acknowledged this sexual assault crisis in recent years, their response has been slow and far from adequate, with dire consequences." Adam Slater, co-founder of Slater Schulman Law Firm, said, "Uber's entire business model is based on getting people home safely, but even so, the personal safety of passengers has never been a concern for Uber - the company has grown at the expense of passenger safety."

Vehicles operated by the U.S. "Uber" platform ("Business Insider" picture)

The BBC report commented that the nature of these accusations is very serious, and as many as 550 women have come forward to accuse "Uber", "this is a shocking number." The lawsuit could also deal a bigger blow to Uber as the case provides more evidence of a toxic culture within the company.

This is another trouble that "Uber" has encountered in just a few days.

BBC, the British " Guardian " and other media exposed a confidential internal document of "Uber" on the 10th. The document revealed that during the period of global expansion from 2013 to 2017, "Uber" spent huge sums of money trying to lobby and recruit politicians to help it rewrite the law, pave the way for itself and "disrupt the taxi industry." The documents detail much of the help Uber received from top officials such as French President Emmanuel Macron and former EU Commissioner Cruz. In order to prevent police raids and investigations, the former boss of Uber personally ordered the use of a technology called a "kill switch" to cut off outside access to Uber's servers and hinder law enforcement officials' investigations.

In response to this incident, an Uber spokesperson admitted that the company’s “past actions were inconsistent with current values.” However, the spokesperson insisted that the current “Uber” has a “new look” and is different from the past.

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