April 21, 2026 / 4:54 AM EDT / AP
A federal jury in Charlotte found rideshare giant Uber liable for the conduct of a driver who grabbed the inner thigh of a passenger as she was exiting the front seat and asked if he could “keep her” with him. The jury awarded the plaintiff $5,000 in damages, plaintiff attorney Ellyn Hurd said.
The case is a bellwether in a broader group of sexual assault lawsuits against Uber nationwide and is the third to go to trial. In February, a federal jury in Arizona ordered Uber to pay $8.5 million to a woman who said a driver raped her during a trip arranged through the platform. Last year, a California jury found Uber not liable in another alleged assault.
Uber, in an emailed statement, noted the relatively small award and that the jury found battery rather than sexual assault. The company said the amount “represents a tiny fraction of previous demands” and indicated it plans to appeal, arguing the jury was incorrectly instructed on liability.
The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they were sexually abused unless they consent through counsel or come forward publicly.
Hurd said the verdict is encouraging for other plaintiffs, noting Uber selected the North Carolina case as the test case for the consolidated lawsuits. “This was a case that they thought going in that they were going to win,” she said. “They picked all the criteria — this is the case that they picked, that they wanted to try. And the jury believed the plaintiff and they lost.”
The lawsuits follow years of criticism over Uber’s safety record, including thousands of sexual assault reports involving both passengers and drivers. Uber has long argued it is not liable for drivers’ misconduct because drivers are classified as independent contractors rather than employees.
U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer, who is overseeing the consolidated cases, ruled that Uber is a “common carrier” under North Carolina law and therefore can be held liable for the driver’s actions. Breyer said Uber presents itself as a transportation provider through advertising and the degree of control it exercises over rides and passenger safety. He noted North Carolina could have exempted rideshare companies from common carrier liability, as Florida and Texas have, but did not.
Because of that ruling, Hurd said the jury’s role was limited to determining whether the assault occurred.
Uber said the driver denied touching the plaintiff and pointed out the plaintiff never reported the incident to law enforcement; the company said it only learned of the allegation when the lawsuit was filed three years later. Hurd responded that a failure to report does not mean an incident did not happen. During the trial, which began Wednesday and concluded Monday, the jury heard testimony from the plaintiff, the driver and friends of the plaintiff who corroborated her account, Hurd said.
Breyer, who is based in San Francisco in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, is scheduled to hear two more sexual-assault test trials against Uber. The next is set for mid-September in San Francisco.