Just in case the incoming CEO of Uber won’t have enough messes to clean up, here’s one more legal headache to add to the list.
Or rather, 433.
According to a story by Courthouse News Service, the ride-hailing service has been sued “at least 433 times this year.” The service cites the numbers from its own database that tracks legal filings.
The datapoint was tucked into a story about another legal filing against Uber made by a female passenger who claims an “Uber driver pushed her from a speeding car when, alarmed by his erratic behavior, she asked him to let her out.”
Uber has not yet responded to a request for comment. We’ll update this story when they do.
Of course, as they say, anyone can file a lawsuit. That does not mean all these accusations are legitimate or will result in Uber facing a legal liability. And certainly corporations can attract all sorts of legal problems.
Still, the 433 number by Courthouse seems high.
Courthouse says the actions include “claims of negligence, failure to train, exaggerating the background checks it claims to do on its drivers, many injury accidents, including an alleged death caused by an Uber driver using his mobile phone while driving, and class actions about its treatment of drivers, including failing to secure workers’ compensation insurance for them, and failing to serve disabled passengers.”
A search of Courthouse’s site turns of a long list of Uber-related lawsuits that range from dangerous to bizarre.
There’s a Florida Uber driver suing the company for its ban on carrying firearms. There’s a new class action lawsuit claiming Uber failed to secure workers’ compensation coverage for drivers. There’s a lawsuit that claims Uber’s change in payment models is stiffing some drivers. And poor handicap access. A woman who claims that she and at least 200 other women have been sexually assaulted by Uber drivers. And the woman who was raped by an Uber driver in India has now sued the company for illegally obtaining her medical records.
However, the company did catch one break: Uber was NOT named as a defendant in the lawsuit filed by a family whose son was an Uber driver and was allegedly killed by a 16-year-old girl using a machete she allegedly stole from a Wal-Mart before calling for an Uber.
The company’s highest-profile legal dispute is now the lawsuit filed by investor Benchmark against the company and former CEO Travis Kalanick, claiming the latter should be removed for the board and misled investors. Kalanick has said the claims are without merit.