Uber Sexual Assault MDL — What California Survivors Need to Know About Rideshare Liability
If you were sexually assaulted by an Uber driver in California, you are not alone — and your legal rights may be stronger than you know. Nearly 1 in 5 women in the United States has experienced completed or attempted rape, according to the CDC’s National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, and rideshare platforms like Uber are now at the center of a landmark federal litigation affecting thousands of survivors nationwide. Compass Law Group, LLP represents California rideshare assault survivors individually — confidentially, at no upfront cost — and can help you understand every legal option available to you.
Key Takeaways
- California’s AB 2777 (CCP §340.16) opened a revival window for adult sexual assault survivors — the deadline to file under this window is December 31, 2026. If you were 18 or older when the assault occurred, this deadline is critical and approaching fast.
- Uber can be held liable under California’s common carrier doctrine, which requires rideshare companies to exercise the highest degree of care for passenger safety — including through adequate driver background checks under AB 2293 and proactive removal of drivers with prior misconduct complaints.
- Preserve evidence immediately: screenshots of your Uber trip receipt, driver name and photo, in-app communications with Uber support, photos of any injuries, medical records, and any text messages related to the assault.
- Compass Law Group, LLP has recovered $250M+ for survivors across California — with zero upfront fees, a strict no-win-no-fee policy, and free, confidential consultations where you may remain completely anonymous.
What Is the Uber Sexual Assault MDL and Why Does It Matter for California Survivors?
The federal case known as In re: Uber Technologies, Inc., Passenger Sexual Assault Litigation is a multidistrict litigation (MDL) consolidated for pre-trial proceedings in the Northern District of San Francisco. Thousands of plaintiffs across the country allege they were sexually assaulted by Uber drivers, and California survivors represent one of the largest plaintiff groups in the MDL. The proceeding consolidates discovery, pretrial motions, and procedural management — but it does not eliminate your right to pursue an individual civil lawsuit in California state or federal court.
The significance of this litigation extends far beyond court dockets. Uber’s own 2022 U.S. Safety Report revealed 3,824 reports of the five most serious categories of sexual assault in 2021 and 2022 alone — and survivor advocates argue this figure dramatically undercounts actual incidents, given how rarely assaults are reported through an app controlled by the very company responsible. Throughout the MDL proceedings, Uber attempted to compel many plaintiffs into private arbitration using app-based terms of service — a tactic federal courts have rejected for a significant number of claims. Individual California rideshare sexual assault civil settlements have, in some cases, exceeded $1 million per plaintiff, reflecting the severity of harm and the depth of Uber’s institutional awareness of driver misconduct.
If you were assaulted by an Uber driver in California, the MDL provides critical context — but your case is individual. Your facts, your driver’s history, Uber’s specific knowledge of that driver, and your documented harm are unique to you. A dedicated California sexual abuse lawyer evaluates your specific claim and pursues the maximum compensation available, independent of whether the MDL ever reaches a global resolution.
What California Laws Protect Rideshare Sexual Assault Survivors?
California has enacted some of the most protective sexual assault survivor statutes in the United States, and two of them are directly relevant to rideshare victims. AB 2777 (2022), codified at CCP §340.16, created a three-year revival window allowing adult survivors to file civil claims that would otherwise be time-barred by the ordinary statute of limitations. This window is open until December 31, 2026. If you were 18 or older when an Uber driver sexually assaulted you — even if the assault occurred years or decades ago — you may still file a civil lawsuit before this deadline. Once December 31, 2026 passes, the revival window closes permanently.
For survivors who were minors when the assault occurred — including teenagers who used rideshare services — AB 218 (2019), codified at CCP §340.1, completely eliminated the statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse claims. There is no filing deadline. A survivor assaulted by a rideshare driver as a minor can bring a civil lawsuit at any age, regardless of how many years have elapsed. Importantly, AB 218 also permits claims against institutional defendants like Uber that enabled the abuse through negligent hiring, negligent retention, or negligent supervision — even when the assault occurred long ago.
California’s Transportation Network Company (TNC) regulatory framework under AB 2293 requires rideshare companies to conduct criminal background checks on all drivers and maintain minimum liability insurance. When Uber fails to properly vet drivers, ignores prior complaints, or retains a driver with known assault history, it violates both its statutory obligations and its common carrier duty of care. As a Los Angeles sexual abuse lawyer can explain, these institutional failures often expose Uber to liability far beyond what an individual driver could pay — and are central to the strongest rideshare sexual assault claims in California.
Who Can Be Held Liable for Uber Sexual Assault in California?
California’s common carrier doctrine imposes a heightened duty of care on Uber as a transportation provider. This is not the ordinary reasonable-person negligence standard — it requires Uber to do everything within its power to protect passengers from foreseeable harm, including harm caused by the very drivers it deploys. When Uber fails that duty, it may be held directly liable for the assault, in addition to any claims against the individual driver.
In a California rideshare sexual assault case, the following parties may bear legal responsibility:
- Uber Technologies, Inc. — direct liability under the common carrier doctrine and California PUC regulations; negligent hiring for approving drivers without adequate background screening; negligent retention for failing to remove drivers flagged for prior misconduct; and negligent supervision for inadequate safety monitoring and complaint response systems.
- The individual Uber driver — direct civil liability for battery, sexual assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and false imprisonment under California law, independent of any criminal prosecution.
- Background check vendors — third-party screening companies that negligently cleared a driver with a disqualifying criminal history may share liability for enabling the assault.
- Uber’s insurance carriers — California law requires Uber to maintain a $1 million per-occurrence liability policy covering incidents that occur while a passenger is in the vehicle; this insurance coverage is often central to the recovery process.
- Third-party property owners — if an assault occurred at a pickup or drop-off location with inadequate lighting, broken security infrastructure, or known safety hazards, premises liability claims against the property owner may apply.
- Subsidiary or regional entities — where Uber operates through corporate affiliates or fleet management partners, those entities may share institutional liability depending on their role in driver deployment and oversight.
Identifying every liable party is one of the most consequential decisions in a rideshare sexual assault case. A Beverly Hills sexual abuse attorney at Compass Law Group conducts a thorough investigation that includes Uber’s driver history, internal safety complaint logs, background check records, and corporate communications — building the strongest possible institutional liability case on your behalf.
What Compensation Can California Rideshare Sexual Assault Survivors Recover?
Compensation in a rideshare sexual assault case is not only financial — it is an acknowledgment that your harm was real, foreseeable, and preventable, and that the people responsible must be held accountable. California law provides a comprehensive framework for the damages that rideshare sexual assault survivors may recover, including both economic and non-economic losses.
Survivors may be entitled to recover:
- Therapy and psychological counseling costs — past and future mental health treatment, including trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT), EMDR, and other evidence-based modalities that may be needed for years after an assault
- Medical expenses — emergency room care, sexual assault forensic exams (SAFE kits), prescription medications, and any ongoing physical health treatment connected to the assault
- Lost wages and diminished earning capacity — if trauma affected your ability to work, return to your prior role, or advance professionally
- Pain and suffering — compensation for the physical and emotional harm experienced during and after the assault
- Emotional distress damages — recognized separately under California law from pain and suffering, addressing the lasting psychological impact including PTSD, anxiety, depression, and disruption to relationships and daily life
- Punitive damages — available under California Civil Code §52.4 when an institutional defendant acted with malice, fraud, or oppression — particularly applicable when Uber knowingly retained a dangerous driver, suppressed assault complaints to protect its brand, or otherwise engaged in deliberate cover-up conduct
According to Joseph Shirazi, Managing Partner of Compass Law Group, LLP: “When a corporation like Uber has actual knowledge that certain drivers have been accused of assault, and chooses market growth over passenger safety — that is the precise institutional malice that California’s punitive damages statutes were designed to address. Our job is to make sure survivors receive compensation that reflects not just what they lost, but what Uber chose to risk.” Individual California rideshare sexual assault civil settlements have reached or exceeded $1 million, and cases involving documented corporate misconduct can warrant substantially higher awards. To understand the full scope of your legal options, explore our practice areas or contact Compass Law Group directly.
California Sexual Abuse Statistics
Understanding the scale of rideshare sexual assault and sexual violence in California helps make clear why this litigation has become one of the most significant in the transportation industry:
1 in 5 women in the United States has experienced rape or attempted rape in her lifetime, according to the CDC’s National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey — a figure that puts rideshare assault in the context of a pervasive national crisis in which survivors often face powerful institutional defendants without adequate support.
3,824 reports of the five most serious categories of sexual assault were submitted to Uber in 2021 and 2022 alone, according to Uber’s own 2022 U.S. Safety Report. Advocacy organizations have argued this figure represents only a fraction of actual incidents, given both the underreporting of sexual assault generally and the deterrent effect of reporting through Uber’s own platform.
According to RAINN, fewer than 1 in 5 sexual assaults are ever reported to police — which means the overwhelming majority of rideshare assault survivors have no official criminal record of the incident. This does not prevent civil litigation; a strong civil case can be built on trip records, Uber’s internal complaint logs, medical documentation, and survivor testimony alone.
$1 million+ is the documented settlement range that individual California rideshare sexual assault civil claims have reached, reflecting both the compensatory damages sustained by survivors and Uber’s institutional exposure under California’s common carrier and punitive damages frameworks.
How Compass Law Group Helps California Rideshare Sexual Assault Survivors
Compass Law Group, LLP is a California sexual abuse law firm with offices throughout the state — including Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Long Beach, San Francisco, Sacramento, Oakland, and Bell Gardens. Managing partners Joseph Shirazi (Bar #265403) and Simon Esfandi (Bar #275307) lead a team that has recovered more than $250 million for injured and harmed Californians — including survivors of rideshare sexual assault, childhood sexual abuse, institutional misconduct, and clergy abuse.
We understand that picking up the phone after a sexual assault — or contacting anyone — takes extraordinary courage. That is why every consultation with Compass Law Group is completely free, entirely confidential, and requires nothing from you in advance. You may remain anonymous. You will never be asked to prove what happened to you or justify your decisions. Our role is to listen carefully, explain your rights under California law, and build the strongest possible case for the compensation you deserve. There are no upfront fees and no costs unless we win.
The Uber MDL is evolving rapidly. Uber’s arbitration clause challenges continue in federal courts; California juries are awarding meaningful verdicts to individual survivors; and the AB 2777 revival window closes on December 31, 2026. Waiting is not a neutral choice — evidence ages, witnesses become unavailable, and legal windows close. Whether you are looking for a California sexual abuse attorney to evaluate your rideshare assault claim for the first time, or you have already spoken with Uber and want a second opinion, our team is ready to help. Our Sacramento Uber/Lyft accident lawyers and attorneys across the state serve clients throughout California — including survivors who prefer to remain anonymous throughout the entire process.
Q: Can I sue Uber for sexual assault by a driver in California even if the assault happened years ago?
Yes, in many cases. If you were an adult at the time of the assault, California’s AB 2777 (CCP §340.16) created a revival window for claims that would otherwise be time-barred — but this window closes permanently on December 31, 2026. If you were a minor when the assault occurred, AB 218 (CCP §340.1) eliminated the statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse entirely, meaning you can file a civil lawsuit at any age with no deadline. Contact a California rideshare sexual assault attorney immediately to determine which law applies to your situation and whether the Government Claims Act imposes any earlier notice requirement.
Q: Is Uber legally responsible for sexual assault committed by one of its drivers?
Under California’s common carrier doctrine, Uber owes passengers the highest degree of care — a standard higher than ordinary negligence. When Uber fails to conduct adequate criminal background checks as required by AB 2293, retains drivers with prior misconduct complaints, or fails to respond appropriately to assault reports, it can be held liable for sexual assault under theories of negligent hiring, negligent retention, and negligent supervision. This institutional liability is independent of and in addition to the driver’s own civil and criminal liability.
Q: What is the Uber Sexual Assault MDL and does it affect my individual California claim?
The MDL — formally In re: Uber Technologies, Inc., Passenger Sexual Assault Litigation — consolidates thousands of federal pre-trial proceedings in San Francisco’s Northern District. However, individual California survivors retain the right to pursue separate civil claims in California state or federal court, independent of the MDL outcome. Your individual case may settle on its own timeline and for an amount specific to your facts — potentially more than any global MDL settlement, depending on the severity of your assault and Uber’s documented knowledge of your specific driver.
Q: What compensation can a rideshare sexual assault survivor recover in California?
California allows rideshare sexual assault survivors to recover economic damages (past and future therapy costs, medical expenses, lost wages, diminished earning capacity), non-economic damages (pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life), and — where Uber’s conduct rises to malice or institutional cover-up — punitive damages under California Civil Code §52.4. Individual California rideshare assault settlements have reached or exceeded $1 million. The specific amount depends on the severity of the assault, your documented losses, and the strength of the institutional negligence case against Uber.
Q: Do I need to file a police report before pursuing a civil lawsuit against Uber for sexual assault?
No. A police report is not required to file or win a civil sexual assault lawsuit in California. Civil litigation and criminal prosecution are entirely separate proceedings with different standards of proof. Many survivors choose not to report to law enforcement — for reasons including fear, immigration concerns, distrust, or trauma — and this choice does not forfeit your civil rights. A skilled attorney can build a powerful civil case using Uber’s internal trip records, driver complaint history, medical documentation, forensic evidence, and your own testimony.
References
- California Code of Civil Procedure §340.1 (AB 218) — Sexual Abuse Statute of Limitations
- RAINN — Sexual Violence Statistics
- California Code of Civil Procedure §340.16 (AB 2777) — Adult Sexual Assault Revival Window
California Sexual Abuse Lawsuit — Key Statistics
Steps to Take After Filing a Rideshare Sexual Assault Claim in California
- Preserve your Uber trip records immediately. Screenshot your trip confirmation, driver name and photo, vehicle make and license plate, and route data from the Uber app before they become inaccessible. These records directly tie the assault to a specific Uber driver and trip — they are among the most important pieces of evidence your attorney will need.
- Seek medical care and request a forensic examination. A Sexual Assault Forensic Exam (SAFE) at a hospital or certified clinic documents physical evidence that may be critical to your civil case. You have the legal right to this exam at no cost regardless of whether you file a police report. Even if time has passed, document any physical symptoms or injuries with a medical provider.
- Save all communications with Uber. If you have already reported the assault through the app, by phone, or by email, preserve every response — ticket numbers, auto-reply emails, chat logs, and any statements from Uber representatives. These communications reveal what Uber knew and when, which is directly relevant to institutional liability claims.
- Write a detailed account of the assault as soon as possible. Record the date, time, location, sequence of events, exactly what was said or done, and the names or descriptions of any witnesses. A contemporaneous written account is powerful corroborating evidence in civil litigation — especially in cases that may take months or years to resolve.
- Consult a California rideshare sexual assault attorney before speaking further with Uber or its insurers. Insurance adjusters and Uber’s legal team are not acting in your interest. Before you provide any statements, accept any settlement offer, or engage further with the company, speak with an attorney. Compass Law Group provides a detailed guide to what to do after an Uber incident in California, and our attorneys can advise you on the information needed to evaluate your Uber case before any legal deadlines pass.
- Report to law enforcement if you choose to — but know a criminal report is not required. Civil and criminal proceedings are entirely separate in California. You can pursue a civil lawsuit for full compensation even if the criminal case is declined by prosecutors, never filed, or still under investigation. Many survivors choose to report; many do not. Both paths are legally valid, and neither limits your civil rights.
- Act before California’s legal deadlines close. Adult survivors of rideshare sexual assault may use the AB 2777 (CCP §340.16) revival window until December 31, 2026 — after which this opportunity closes permanently. Survivors who were minors at the time of the assault have no deadline under AB 218 (CCP §340.1). If a government entity or government-contracted driver was involved, Government Claims Act notice may be required within 6 months of discovery. Contact Compass Law Group immediately to identify your specific deadline.
