A California jury found Uber was not liable in a sexual assault case of a woman who claims she was attacked by her driver. On September 30, 2025, a three-week civil trial came to an end in the San Francisco Superior Court when a jury rejected the woman’s argument that Uber was at fault for what happened to her. This is the first case out of more than 500 lawsuits currently sitting in California state court. In addition to those, more than 2,500 lawsuits are making similar claims that are sitting in a federal court in California.
Uber Assault Lawsuit
The assault victim went by Jessica C during her trial. She sued Uber in 2021, claiming she was assaulted by one of their drivers in 2016. According to her attorneys, the woman ordered an Uber and during the ride, the driver allegedly pulled off to a side street and proceeded to restrain the victim and began groping and kissing her.
Her case served as the first “bellwether” for the state court litigation. What this means is that her case is serving as a forecaster for the other cases of a similar nature. In litigation, plaintiffs who bring forth similar claims will be judged based on past rulings and the precedent can be used in negotiations for settlements. In layman’s terms, judges can use the outcome of this trial to manage the remaining 2,500 lawsuits, and plaintiff attorneys can argue for similar settlements.
The victim requested compensation for damages for each year of her life affected due to the actions of the Uber driver. It resulted in a request for an amount between $175,000 and $1.2 million per year. Her attorneys suggested a larger amount for the years closer to when the incident occurred, but they did not suggest a number for punitive damages.
Safety Precautions
The lawsuits allege Uber was aware of the problem amongst its drivers and that a number of assaults took place, but the company failed to take action to address the issue and reduce the number of incidents. Instead of coding the app to assign female riders to female drivers or requiring all drivers to have dash cams and record interactions during an Uber ride, they chose to ignore the assault accusations. They did not take action to implement these policies or programs.
Uber believes they have done their due diligence by requiring background checks and disclosing when assaults occur. They do not believe they should be held liable for criminal conduct by the drivers or passengers. The thousands of assault lawsuits against them do not worry them in the slightest, and the outcome of the bellwether case sustains that.
In recent years, Uber has implemented new app features to make riding safer, such as ride verification, video and audio recording of rides, and anomaly detection. They have also partnered with survivor advocacy groups to reframe their driver training in an attempt to minimize the controversy and allegations.
Assault Reports
Although Uber has enacted more safety measures and attempts to ensure driver and rider safety, it still falls short. In its latest safety report published for the years 2021-2022, Uber reports that sexual assault had supposedly fallen by 44% compared to its first report from 2017-2018. “Uber has worked for years to raise the bar on safety and will continue to do so in the years ahead,” an Uber spokesperson said in a statement.
A New York Times story prompted a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee to send a letter to Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi requesting information on the company’s safety protocols and how they respond to, and plan to prevent sexual assaults on its rides. There seems to be a lack of reporting, so the number of incidents that have occurred through Uber is most likely more than 2,500.
If you or someone you care about has been affected by sexual violence, you can reach out to RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline for free, confidential support available 24/7. Assistance is offered in both English and Spanish at 800.656.HOPE (4673), online at Hotline.RAINN.org, or in Spanish at RAINN.org/es.
