Uber’s legal woes continue. As the ride-sharing company continues to contend with revelations that the fatal pedestrian crash in Arizona occurred after the governor and Uber kept the self-driving program a secret, a new lawsuit in California involves serious allegations against a driver, via a Bloomberg report.
The lawsuit, which Uber wants the court to dismiss, claims that a woman suffered severe injuries on a Santa Barbara freeway when a driver told her (and her brother) to leave the vehicle. The plaintiff seeks negligence and fraud damages, but Uber is arguing that the suit was filed in the wrong county, which could be valid grounds for dismissal. However, the company also argues that Uber drivers are only contractors, and therefore, it lacks a “direct relationship” with the driver and shouldn’t be liable for punitive damages. Here’s what the woman, who caught a ride after an evening of drinking, claims in her lawsuit:
On the way home from downtown Santa Barbara, the driver — “without legal justification or good cause” — pulled over to the median and ordered the woman and her brother out of the car, according to the complaint. Margaret Schimmel says she was struck by a hit-and-run driver and suffered “catastrophic injuries” when she tried to cross to the shoulder of the freeway.
In other Uber-related troubles, the company recently suspended operations in Greece due to new regulations on ride-sharing services. Uber plans to reassess its strategy in the country, but this is only the latest setback in the company’s international endeavors. Recently, Uber sold its Southeast Asia operations and is still wrestling with regulatory troubles in the U.K. Meanwhile, rival Lyft has successfully expanded into Canada, so the battle for world ride-sharing domination might soon have a new winner.