Federal jury finds Uber liable for actions of driver who grabbed passenger's inner thigh

Source: AP

By AUDREY McAVOY
Updated 10:26 PM CDT, April 20, 2026
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Rideshare giant Uber is liable for the behavior of a driver who grabbed the inner thigh of a passenger as she was leaving the front seat of his car and asked if he could “keep her” with him, a jury in North Carolina found Monday.

The federal jury in Charlotte awarded the plaintiff $5,000 in damages, said Ellyn Hurd, one of the plaintiff’s lawyers.

The so-called bellwether case is part of a broader group of sexual assault lawsuits filed against Uber in multiple jurisdictions around the country 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 one of its drivers raped her during a trip using the platform. Last year, a California jury found Uber not liable for the alleged assault of a rider.

Uber, in an emailed statement, took note of the relatively small financial judgment in the North Carolina case and that the jury found that battery had occurred and not sexual assault.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/uber-sex-assault-lawsuit-north-carolina-636ebfe6acbedea4189bcf1e7ba43724