SAN FRANCISCO – Attorneys for Uber sexual assault and rape survivors across the country filed a master complaint in the Uber Passenger Sexual Assault Multi-District Litigation (MDL). The MDL was ordered in October so the over 10,000 Uber passengers who reported rapes or sexual assaults would have an opportunity to seek justice. Hundreds of lawsuits already have been consolidated in the MDL. Plaintiffs seek compensatory and punitive damages, as well as injunctive relief to force Uber to change its practices.

The master complaint was filed in U.S District Court, Northern District of California, San Francisco Division, by co-lead attorneys at Peiffer Wolf Carr Kane Conway & Wise (Peiffer Wolf), Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein (Lieff Cabraser), and Chaffin Luhana. As part of their duties in leadership of the Uber sexual assault litigation, co-lead counsel filed the long-form complaint to define the scope of common discovery in the case, permitting the Court to address certain common legal issues and setting forth the potential claims that individual plaintiffs are expected to assert against Uber Technologies and related entities.

An appendix to the complaint also was filed, which cites several specific examples of Uber advertisements pertinent to the lawsuit that marketed the rideshare service as a safe transportation option for young women.

Rachel Abrams, partner at Peiffer Wolf and co-lead attorney for the plaintiffs, said: “Uber’s own data proves that – contrary to its marketing – it’s not a safe platform for women, and it has never taken sexual assault seriously. Over the past decade, as Uber was receiving thousands of rape and sexual assault reports each year, at the same time it was blasting out ads aimed at young women that they should trust Uber with their safety.”

Roopal Luhana, Founder and Partner at Chaffin Luhana and co-lead attorney for the plaintiffs, said: “Every day, Uber passengers are being sexually assaulted. That’s not hyperbole, it’s simple math. Uber has known about this crisis since 2014 at least, and in the 10 years since over 10,000 rapes and sexual assaults have reported. Not even counting the significant percentage of assaults that statistically go unreported, we’re talking about a truly unimaginable amount of violence.”

The latest development follows Uber’s failed stay request earlier this month, in which the company’s attorneys “struggled” to convince the judge for a 60-day pause. In November, an unusual Uber petition to throw out the MDL also failed, with one expert opining at the time, “I just am at a loss to understand that they think they have any chance of success.”

Notably, the three plaintiff co-lead attorneys in the Uber Passenger Sexual Assault MDL are the first-ever all-female co-leadership in an MDL, and the only majority female leadership teams in the country. On December 5, 2023, Judge Charles R. Breyer of the Northern District of California issued an order in the MDL establishing the plaintiffs’ leadership in the case.

Background

Uber has been aware since 2014 that drivers were physically assaulting, sexually assaulting, and raping passengers. The company’s response has been slow and inadequate. While Uber has publicly acknowledged this sexual-assault crisis—including the publication of Uber’s U.S. Safety Report in December 2019—Uber has failed to implement basic safety measures necessary to prevent serious sexual and/or physical assaults. Uber has not released any sexual-assault data for 2021 or 2022. Uber’s decision to withhold that data prevents passengers and the public from understanding the true rate at which such assaults are still occurring.

Safe Rides Fee

In 2014, Uber started charging Uber passengers an extra $1 for a “Safe Rides Fee” for each trip. When Uber announced the “Safe Rides Fee,” it told the public that the fee “supports our continued efforts to ensure the safest possible platform for Uber riders and drivers, including an industry-leading background check process, regular motor vehicle checks, driver safety education, development of safety features in the app, and insurance.” Uber collected its “Safe Rides Fee” and made hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. Uber did not use this money for passenger safety but instead pocketed the money for its own profits at the cost of passenger safety.

Marketing to Young Women

On a “Women’s Safety” page on its website, Uber advertised that it was “driving change for women’s safety,” specifically representing that “sexual assault and gender-based violence don’t belong anywhere in our communities, which is why Uber is committed to help stop incidents before they happen” and touting its “safety features and education” and “transparency.” Through such representations, and as the company grapples with tens of thousands of ongoing rape and sexual assaults being reported, Uber continues to encourage women to trust its services to secure safe transportation.

Uber Refused to Implement Any Available Solutions

Despite being aware of the thousands of incidents of sexual and physical assault, Uber has yet to mandate the following safety measures: in-vehicle surveillance (audio and video); extensive background checks, including fingerprinting; driver training on interactions with passengers; sexual harassment education and training; a zero-tolerance policy for drivers who deviate from expected behavior and protocols mandating immediate termination; creation and institution of a system encouraging customer reporting and reporting to local authorities; and adequate monitoring of customer complaints by well-trained and effective customer-service representatives.

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MEDIA CONTACTS:

Max Karlin at (703) 276-3255 or mkarlin@hastingsgroupmedia.com.

Peiffer Wolf Carr Kane Conway & Wise is a national law firm with offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, New Orleans, Cleveland, Youngstown, Detroit and St. Louis. Visit www.sexualassaultvictimadvocates.com/ for more information.

PEIFFER WOLF CARR KANE CONWAY & WISE, LLP
555 Montgomery Street, Suite 820
San Francisco, CA 94111
Telephone: (415) 426-5641
Facsimile: (415) 840-9435
rabrams@peifferwolf.com

Chaffin Luhana LLP is a plaintiffs-only national trial firm focused on representing injured survivors and their families in catastrophic and complex cases. Started by former federal prosecutors Eric Chaffin and Roopal Luhana, the firm is comprised of former state and federal prosecutors, former large defense firm attorneys, former judicial law clerks, and caring and compassionate staff including an in-house social worker. For more information, please visit www.chaffinluhana.com/.

CHAFFIN LUHANA LLP
600 Third Avenue, 12th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (888) 480-1123
Facsimile: (888) 499-1123
luhana@chaffinluhana.com

Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein is one of the country’s largest and most successful firms exclusively representing plaintiffs in civil litigation, having secured verdicts or settlements worth over $124 billion for clients nationwide. With over 100 attorneys, the firm has led some of the most significant litigation of the last decade. For more information, go to 144.202.114.179/.

Lakeville, Connecticut – A class-action lawsuit was filed today against The Hotchkiss School, a private boarding and day school located in Lakeville, Connecticut, alleging a deeply troubling history of gross negligence in child protection and a culture that allowed sexual abuse to thrive on its campus.

The complaint, filed by Plaintiff Mark Moe and on behalf of other male Hotchkiss students who were exposed to the increased risk of sexual violence posed by Roy G. Smith, Jr., a former teacher and athletic trainer at the school, reveals a shocking and distressing pattern of abuse that spans three decades. The lawsuit asserts that Hotchkiss not only failed to protect its students from these abuses but also actively protected and enabled the abuser.

The case asks the Court to certify a class of all male Hotchkiss students who were student-athletes on a Hotchkiss sports team for which Roy Smith served as an athletic trainer, and/or who visited Roy Smith’s on-campus apartment for “tutoring.” If successful, other Smith survivors could come forward to seek damages against Hotchkiss and rely on the Court’s determination that Hotchkiss is liable for their injuries.

The allegations against Hotchkiss include rampant sexual abuse of students by faculty members, Hotchkiss’s knowledge of Smith’s clear and consistent patterns of abusive behavior, Smith’s inappropriate touching of students’ genitals and sexual abuse under the guise of tutoring, Hotchkiss’s failure to intervene for 30 years while providing Smith with access to thousands of students, the expulsion of a student who reported Smith’s abuse instead of disciplining Smith, and a lack of policies and procedures for the prevention of and response to sexual abuse.

In 2018, Hotchkiss commissioned a report that revealed a shocking amount of serial sexual abuse by faculty against students. The Locke Lord Report, as it is known, detailed abuse by many faculty members during the same decades in which Roy Smith was abusing children at Hotchkiss. It revealed a culture where predatory teachers were accepted and protected, while student reports were suppressed.

“Instead of ensuring a safe and secure community, Hotchkiss betrayed the trust of its students and exposed them to a dangerous environment for young people. Students should have been able to focus on their education without fear of sexual abuse from their teachers,” said Lieff Cabraser partner Annika K. Martin, who is head of the firm’s Survivor Advocacy Practice Group and who represents the survivors. “This lawsuit will open the door for other Smith survivors to more easily come forward and hold the school accountable for knowingly putting them in harm’s way.” Martin has successfully represented other survivors who have brought individual claims against The Hotchkiss School.

“This complaint goes beyond my individual experience. It sheds light on a systemic issue at Hotchkiss and decades of abuse hidden by the school,” said Plaintiff Mark Moe, which is a pseudonym. “By filing this case, I aim to bring justice to survivors of abuse at Hotchkiss pave the way for others to come forward and more easily hold the school accountable for the abuse it allowed to happen to them.”

“Survivors deserve to have their voices heard and for the school to admit they failed their students for decades,” said Hugh Cuthbertson and Glenn Duhl at Zangari Cohn Cuthbertson Duhl & Grello in New Haven. “This case is an important step to achieve this outcome that these students so greatly deserve.”

Paris Hilton, a vocal advocate for change in the TTI, recently visited Washington, D.C., to push for federal laws that would protect children and teens in similar situations. Hilton’s activism, along with Unsilenced’s efforts, help to shed light on the need for transparency and accountability in this disturbing flawed and insufficiently regulated industry.

Unsilenced (and indeed, Lieff Cabraser and all other firms and organizations working to end teen abuse) envisions a world where young people are free from forced institutionalization, and where their voices are respected and included in shaping efforts to maximize their mental, emotional, and physical well-being. Unsilenced’s core values of social innovation, inclusivity, diversity, transparency, and teamwork guide its efforts in empowering advocates to bring about lasting social change for all of our country’s troubled and misunderstood teens.

Instead of resorting to the largely unregulated Troubled Teen Industry, Unsilenced promotes constructive alternatives that prioritize keeping young people with their families and communities. They believe in fostering better health outcomes for youth without resorting to harmful, remote, depersonalized, and neglectful and even abusive institutionalization.

Nonprofit Unsilenced’s initiatives include increasing education, awareness, community support, and policy changes to protect the civil, social, and human rights of youth. By embracing a positive and rewarding culture, Unsilenced connects with its mission in a wide range of meaningful and compassionate ways, deepening its impact on one of the highest-risk communities in the U.S.

Learn more about Unsilenced and its mission to protect youth from the Troubled Teen Industry.

The Pennsylvania case seeks both damages for the individually named plaintiffs and injunctive relief to protect the putative class of Deveraux patients over allegations that they are “subjected to the unnecessary (and foreseeable) risk of physical, emotional, and sexual assault caused by Devereux’s failure to have and/or enforce proper policies and procedures for the prevention of, and proper response to, such abuse.” The case is proceeding through discovery and on to trial.

Noting that defendants’ protestations about privacy concerns were a non-issue, Lieff Cabraser partner Annika K. Martin, who represents the plaintiffs in the litigation, stated, “We’re just interested in incidents of prior abuse that have occurred and specifically how Deverux has handled them, if it has handled them at all. What were their practices and policies to prevent such abuse, if such policies existed? And what are they doing to prevent the abuse of children in the future? This information is critical to getting our clients the justice — and the relief — they are seeking.”

Martin added that plaintiffs’ attorneys are focused on drilling down specific policy changes that need to be made by Devereux to stop future abuse from happening.

About Annika K. Martin

A partner in Lieff Cabraser’s New York office and the Chair of the firm’s Survivor’s Rights practice group, Annika K. Martin served as co-lead counsel for plaintiff abuse victims in the USC student sexual abuse lawsuit that led to a $215 million settlement with USC and Dr. Tyndall and significant institutional changes. She is currently representing men who were sexually abused as students by University of Michigan physician Robert Anderson as well as children who allege they were abused while in the care of Devereux Foundation.

“Beyond #MeToo and Athletics: Where We Have Been and Where We Must Go” will highlight the recent history of gender and sex abuse in athletics, with a particular focus on such abuse at academic institutions and a deep dive into institutional failures. Our distinguished panel – which includes survivors and experts in the field – will offer first-hand insight and specific recommendations for best institutional practices moving forward, including strengthening organizational culture to promote inclusion and athlete safety.

We hope you’ll join us for this important conversation and an opportunity to engage in meaningful dialogue about correcting and preventing gender and sexual abuse in athletics.

CLE for New York and California will be offered. Space is limited. Proof of Covid vaccinations are required for in person attendance. Please RSVP to mmacatee@lchb.com.

Where

Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP
250 Hudson Street, 8th Fl. New York, NY 10013
This event will also be hosted on Zoom.

When

November 16, 2022
Registration: 4:30 pm
Program: 5:00–7:00 pm
Wine and appetizers will be served

RSVP

mmacatee@lchb.com

Speakers will include:

Londa Bevins was one of the top women’s distance runners in the country in NCAA Division 1. In high school, she placed 7th at the USA Jr. Nationals in the 1500m. She was heavily recruited, was given a full scholarship to the University of Texas before transferring her sophomore year to Arkansas because of abuse by her coach at Texas. Londa served as a plaintiff in a class action lawsuit against the coach and NCAA. She completed her career at the University of Arkansas, where she was a 7-time All-American in track and cross country and competed at the Olympic Trials in the 1500m. She earned a B.A. in Art History and Art Education K-12.

Bob Boland is currently a professor at Seton Hall University Law School. He is a noted sports lawyer and professor. Just before joining Seton Hall in 2022, he served in the unique role of Athletics Integrity Officer at Penn State University from 2017 to 2022. As an academic he’s led noted sports management programs at Ohio University and New York University and held teaching appointments at Penn State’s Labor School and Law School. He has been active in practice representing players, coaches and consulting. He is presently of Counsel to the law firm of Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick.

Diahann Billings-Burford is the CEO of RISE. Billings-Burford most recently worked at Time Warner, as executive director, cultural investments, vice president of the Time Warner Foundation and for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg as the city’s chief service officer. She serves on the National Board of Directors for buildOn, as well as on the boards of Philanthropy New York as Vice Chair, the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, Strava and Success Academy. In 2021, she was recognized on Crain’s Notable Nonprofits and Philanthropy list and in 2019 was named one of Crain’s Notable Women in Sports.

Jessica Johnson was one of the top women’s high jumpers in the country. In high school, she was groomed by a coach who sexually abused and harassed her after recruiting her to the University of Texas. In 2020, Jessica was a plaintiff in a proposed class action lawsuit against the coach and NCAA. Jessica completed her career at the University of Arkansas, where she placed second at NCAA Div 1 Championships, was a 3-time All American and top ten women’s high jumper, and set the school record before retiring to attend veterinary school.

Erin Aldrich-Shean is a former Olympian who was introduced to the USA Track & Field High Jump Development Chair at The University of Arizona in high school. The coach groomed her and improperly turned their relationship into a romantic one. Aldrich-Shean believed she was the only individual so targeted, until 20 years later when she viewed a revelatory documentary. After suffering years of suppressed trauma, Erin became a plaintiff in a class action lawsuit against the coach and the NCAA for failure to protect athletes against inappropriate relationships. Erin is now happily married with two young boys and works as a commercial real estate broker.

Jonathan D. Selbin (Moderator) is a senior partner in the New York office of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, where he has practiced for 27 years, and a long-time member of the firm’s Executive Committee. He has led complex consumer protection, defective product, and sex abuse class action lawsuits in courts around the country against many of the world’s largest corporations and institutions. Together, cases in which Jonathan played a lead role have resulted in court-approved class action settlements with a combined total cash payout to class members in excess of $3.54 billion, plus other relief such as extended and enhanced warranties and implementation of best-practices institutional reforms. He co-founded the firm’s survivors’ rights and advocacy practice group, and played a leading role in litigating and resolving the class actions against USC involving abuse by Dr. George Tyndall and University of Michigan involving abuse by Dr. Robert Anderson.

About the Group

The Beyond #MeToo Working Group on Corporate Governance, Compliance, and Risk is a law and research working group dedicated to understanding the root causes of workplace harassment, discrimination, and misconduct; tracking and constructively utilizing the insights gained through the #MeToo movement; and helping to create optimal corporate compliance and management structures to prevent workplace misconduct and abuses of power.

Bringing together experts on governance, workplace misconduct, corporate compliance, litigation, diversity, investigative journalism, communications, and human behavior, Beyond #MeToo seeks to provide a neutral forum for candid discussion, practical discourse, and legal and professional scholarship in developing the next generation of policy prescriptions and best practices related to these complicated issues.

Founding Members

• Rebecca Boon: Partner, Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann
• Alicyn Cooley: Executive Director, Program on Corporate Compliance and Enforcement at NYU Law and former Federal Prosecutor
• Kenneth Ebie: Attorney, Strategist, Independent Consultant, and former Director, The Raben Group
• Hilary Evans: Attorney and Advocate, The Children’s Law Center and former Manhattan ADA
• Jessie Gabriel: Partner, BakerHostetler
• Barbara Jones: Partner, Bracewell and former judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
• Candace McLaren Lanham: Partner, Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr and former Manhattan ADA
• Jane A. Levine: Chief Compliance Officer for DailyPay and Adjunct Lecturer in Law, Columbia Law School
• Daniel Lewis: Partner, Shearman & Sterling
• Mecca Mitchell: SVP of Diversity, Inclusion & Community Engagement and Chief Diversity Officer, Westchester
• Medical Center Health Network and former Manhattan ADA
• Rena Paul: Sexual Misconduct Consulting & Investigations, former Federal Prosecutor, former Manhattan ADA, and founding Partner, Alcalaw LLP
• Brande Stellings: Principal, Vestry Laight
• Alla Zayenchik: Associate, Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann

About the Host

Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP is a 120-attorney law firm with offices in San Francisco, New York, Nashville, and Munich. We are among the largest law firms in the United States that only represent plaintiffs. Driven by a strong and principled sense of social justice, we are committed to achieving justice for investors, consumers, employees, patients, and business owners; promoting safer products and fair competition; protecting our environment; assisting individuals blow the whistle on fraud; safeguarding the rights of patent and copyright holders; ensuring our right to privacy is preserved; and upholding the civil rights of citizens worldwide.