Uber Ordered to Pay $40 Million After Driver Left 23-Year-Old on California Highway
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · Sep 18
Uber Ordered to Pay $40 Million After Driver Left 23-Year-Old on California Highway
3 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Sep 18
Summary
$40 million was awarded to Emily Normandin-Parker’s parents after a five-day arbitration found Uber liable for a 2023 highway death involving one of its drivers.
Court filings said driver Vu Tran pulled over after Normandin-Parker’s friend vomited, forced the intoxicated women out on the roadside, and Normandin-Parker was then struck and killed by another vehicle.
Richard Stone, the retired judge serving as arbitrator, said Tran could have taken the next exit to a safe drop-off and instead called Uber to seek a cleaning fee rather than help.
Uber argued Tran was an independent contractor and said the arbitrator wrongly held the company legally responsible, though it said it has since strengthened driver guidance on unsafe drop-offs.
The family’s lawyers said the parents had rejected an earlier $10 million settlement offer that would have barred them from speaking publicly about the incident.