CT woman sues Uber over rape claim
STAMFORD — A Connecticut woman is suing Uber over a 2019 incident in which police say she was raped by one of the company’s drivers while she was passed out drunk in the back of his car.
The woman, who is not named in the lawsuit, claims the alleged rape happened, in part, due to Uber’s “negligence.”
The company, the suit says, markets its services specifically as a “safe means” for intoxicated people to get home after a night of drinking. But they do so “without providing any meaningful protection against sexual assault by their drivers,” the suit claims.
“Uber’s entire business model is structured around convincing people to get into strangers’ cars,” said attorney Maxwell Barrand, of DiScala & DiScala, who represents the woman. “So they’ve grown into a $75-billion industry by expanding their driver base as quickly as they possibly can, and what we are now investigating — and intend to get through discovery — is how much of that money is actually invested into keeping their riders safe.”
In the complaint, Barrand wrote that by failing to “adequately screen” their drivers, “monitor trips in progress for unexpected stops,” and offer a “panic button” feature either in the car or on the app, Uber failed to ensure the safety of his client.
“This rape, and the resulting damages to the life and person of the plaintiff, are due to the wanton and reckless conduct of defendant Uber,” Barrand wrote in the complaint.
Barrand said in the lawsuit that his client has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, “fearfulness of strangers,” anxiety, pain and more as a result of the incident.
The woman is seeking more than $15,000 in compensatory and punitive damages, as well as coverage for attorney fees and “other relief.”
Uber representatives did not respond to requests for comment Monday.
The lawsuit, filed in state Superior
Court in Stamford on Jan. 22, also names the former Uber driver, Nour Awad, as a defendant in the case.
Awad was arrested in July 2019 and charged with second-degree sexual assault of a physically helpless person. He has since pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.
Attorney Bob Gulash, who represents Awad in his criminal case, did not respond to a request for comment Monday.
According to police, Awad picked the woman up around 1 a.m. on Feb. 9, 2019, from downtown Stamford where she had spent the night out drinking with friends.
Police said the woman was very intoxicated when she entered the car outside a Bedford Street bar and passed out as Awad began to drive her home to Darien.
But police said Awad only got as far as the 1000 block of Hope Street in Springdale where he pulled into a back parking lot and raped the passed-out woman.