Uber settles medical record lawsuit with woman raped by driver

Uber has capped off its terrible 2017 by settling a lawsuit with a woman who accused top executives of illegally obtaining her medical records after she was raped by a driver in New Delhi, India in 2014.

The anonymous US resident sued the company for intrusion into private affairs, public disclosure of private facts, and defamation. The woman claimed that then-CEO Travis Kalanick, president of business in Asia Eric Alexander, and senior vice president of business Emil Michael all believed her rape to be a conspiracy by rival companies.

Her lawyer alleged that the company sought her medical records in an attempt to discredit her claim with details such as alcohol intake or the outfit she was wearing. The woman’s rapist was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 2015.

An anonymous US resident sued Uber for intrusion into private affairs, public disclosure of private facts, and defamation

“Rape denial is just another form of the toxic gender discrimination that is endemic at Uber and ingrained in its culture,” Douglas Wigdor, the lawyer handling the case said, according to TechCrunch.

Both Alexander and Michael were fired in light of this suit, as well as the same woman’s 2015 suit accusing the company of negligence and fraud. Kalanick resigned as CEO after a string of controversies earlier this year.

Uber anticipates the latest case to be dismissed by January 2018. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Assault cases are not uncommon for Uber — especially not in South Africa. Despite the company assuring riders of thorough background checks, a Joburg woman accused an Uber driver of abduction, robbery and rape in 2016. Earlier this year, a young woman in Cape Town accused her driver of assault. Around the same time, a driver in Delft was accused of sexual assault.

Feature image: 5chw4r7z via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0, edited)