Things continue to worsen for Uber, as it gets embroiled in yet another lawsuit. Following claims of harassment at the workplace, over twenty people were made to leave the company.
Following this, several other problems came to light including a case just a few weeks ago, where an Indian woman filed a lawsuit after it came to light that her medical records were illegally obtained by Uber’s president of business Eric Alexander. These records were pertinent to molestation by an Uber driver.
In light of these events, the company saw several resignations by membes of the board and finally, even CEO Travis Kalanick has stepped down.
Now, this new lawsuit against Uber is being filed by a passenger who claims to have been raped by a driver in Kansas City. She blames the company for not taking action when there were previous indications that he was unfit to be a driver.
According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff, referred to as Jane Doe, was raped by Yahkhaknakn Ammi on 28 January 2017. Even after the lawsuit was filed however, records show that Ammi continued to drive for Uber right up until around March 20th.
A spokesperson from Uber said that the company only received the complaint now and,
What’s reported in the complaint is deeply troubling and something we take extremely seriously. We are reviewing the litigation
The lawsuit also has negligent hiring and retention along with negligence and fraudulent concealment in charges against Uber because apparently, the company was previously made aware of the threat Ammi posed but did not take any action.
On 25 December 2016, a few weeks before Doe was molested, another female person filed domestic abuse charges against Ammi. The two of them resided together and a warrant was issued to arrest him. Following his incident, the woman also submitted a report to Uber in which she said,
Your driver YAHKHAHNAHN ‘Yah’ Ammi assaulted someone badly 12/25/16!! He hurt the woman badly! He has a warrant out for his arrest. He is a scam artist his real name is Perrie D. Gibson born 8/21/79 or 78 it is not safe to allow your riders to ride with him!!
With no action having been taken by the company, Ammi was allowed to continue to drive. On the night that Doe was raped, Ammi had previously forced her to exchange contact information with him so that he could give her and her friends a ride later after they attended an event.
When he dropped her home, he entered her apartment claiming he needed to use the washroom and after refusing to leave, allegedly raped her.
This lawsuit is just another one being added to Uber’s long list. The ride-hailing company seems to be facing one problem after another. Stay tuned to get updates on this case as well as Uber!
