Uber Ordered to Pay $40M in Death of Woman Ejected on Freeway
An arbitrator found Uber vicariously liable for a driver who dropped a passenger on a California freeway, leading to her death.
Uber has been ordered to pay $40 million to the parents of Emily Normandin-Parker, a 23-year-old woman who died after a driver ejected her and a companion from his vehicle on the side of a California freeway, according to newly unsealed arbitration documents.
Retired California judge Richard A. Stone, serving as arbitrator, determined that Uber was "vicariously liable" for the driver's negligence — a legal finding that places responsibility on the company for the actions of its contractor behind the wheel.
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The case centers on a driver who left the two passengers stranded along a freeway, an environment with no safe pedestrian access, resulting in Normandin-Parker's death. The ruling marks a significant development in ongoing legal debates over how much accountability ride-share platforms bear for their drivers' conduct.
The vicarious liability finding is particularly notable given that Uber and similar gig-economy companies have long argued that their drivers are independent contractors rather than employees, a distinction they have used to limit corporate exposure in injury and negligence claims. A $40 million arbitration award cuts against that posture directly.
The documents were described as newly public, suggesting the proceedings had previously been conducted under confidentiality terms common in arbitration. Continue reading at Business | The Guardian.
