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Indian Woman Sues Uber In the US Over Alleged New Delhi Taxi Rape
"Uber has been the subject of controversy all around the globe," notes new submitter yuetteasvy (3999351), who supplies this story from Reuters about one of the reasons for that controversy: An Indian woman who says she was raped by an Uber driver while she was traveling in his cab in December is suing the San Francisco–based online firm in a U.S. federal court in California, claiming it failed to put in place basic safety procedures while running its car service in India. In her lawsuit, filed on Thursday, the New Delhi woman called the app-based service the "modern day equivalent of electronic hitchhiking." The unidentified plaintiff also calls for Uber to overhaul its safety practices, and seeks unspecified damages in the case, according to Reuters. The news agency quoted Uber as saying that it's "deepest sympathies remain with the victim of this horrific crime." Earlier, the woman was reported to have enlisted the services of Douglas Wigdor, a high-profile U.S. lawyer who represented Nafissatou Diallo, the New York City hotel maid who accused the former International Monetary Fund managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault. Prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorney's office went on to drop all charges against Strauss-Kahn, while a civil suit was settled out of court.
Rape is infuriatingly common in our world, while reporting and/or prosecution for the offense are comparitively rare. So, this probably isn't the first time this has happened. For the survivor's sake and for the sake of setting a precedent (Uber must find a way to stop this from happening), I hope the lawsuit is successful.
Rubio, state lawmakers push for deregulation of taxi industry (in Florida) Honestly, we all saw this coming a mile away. Taxi companies in general don't exactly have the most stellar reputation and it's quite possible for people to fake being a taxi but even easier to fake being an Uber driver. The whole situation will likely be used by both political sides for their own petty interests and not focus on the woman's situation.
Meanwhile, I don't think the woman is actually too interested in justice or anything but is interested in money from Uber as it's quite insane to hold the stance that there's any level of safety precautions that Uber could take to prevent a would be rapist to become any form of a taxi driver (as if that's the only means to get women alone and rape them). That isn't to say I think Uber does a great job at verifying people, but 99% of companies follow the same shit standards on claims they make. It's just that most people aren't raped as a result and can't use that emotional leverage to funnel money out of a company. None of that, of course, does anything to resolve things because then it becomes "business as usual" to pay off people for all sorts of claims--and I'm not at all talking about just Uber, as this is an epidemic problem.
Want to see real change and justice? Talk to the actual owners of Uber and see if you can convince them to make a better company. It probably wouldn't have stopped the lady's rape, but it will at least make you feel better that Uber might actually try.
Will you say the same, if UBER ignored a legal requirement in the US to conduct background checks? Didn't take any action when someone who travelled in the same car as the rapist reported the rapist for making her feel uncomfortable? Liability attaches to UBER.
And who up voted you? Come on slashdot, you are better than this!
Any this is why we cannot have nice things. Any attempt at improvements and progress is immediately attacked by those who seek egoistical gain or cry for an ever bigger nanny-state, or as in this case both.
Blaming somebody's crime on Uber because they used the app is as absurd as blaming Tinder for failing to screen and monitor its users. (Although, I'm sure somebody will eventually sue for that as well).
What standing does she have to sue in the US?
"I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
Ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding!
We have a winner! Johnny, tell them what he has won....
(crickets)
Johnny?
Buck Feta. You know what to do.
Welcome to the global economy. Uber USA's decision of cost-saving, lax hiring practices in India was indirectly responsible for this rape.
In the same line as this complaint, I took a ride with Uber the other day and the car got a flat tire about mid-way into the trip!! Wtf? I didn't expect that... And I was late to meet my friends.
At the very least I should get this ride for free.
Cab drivers rape people occasionally also; if they can't be stopped from doing so after being in business for decades why should Uber be able to spot someone any better? The problem is that some people just fly under the radar of screening.
I had a cab driver who was borderline pscho, and almost refused to take money from my wife while I went around back to collect the bags.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
From a point of law, indirectly responsible is the same thing as not responsible.
but the simple line "reported to have enlisted the services of Douglas Wigdor, a high-profile U.S. lawyer" kind of sounds like this could be coming from enemies of Uber, with purposely filed false claims to attack Uber. Some woman from India can afford or has been able to easily contact a high profile lawyer? This would be the perfect kind of attack coming from the people who want to see Uber fall. Of course it's absolutely horrible if the case is real, but with the enemies Uber has it sounds a little fishy to me. :/
The facts have been misrepresented in this case both in the Indian media and now in the U.S press. UBER did indeed ask for a police certified character certificate from the driver and the driver in turn handed them one, albeit a forged certificate. Any Indian who has worked with security agencies will tell you that Indian police character verification certificate is simply expensive paper to wipe your ass with. They have no standard format, are easily faked and are expensive to obtain no matter whom you pay - the crooks in uniform who give you one for a bribe or the crooks not in uniform who make forged copies for a fee. There is no central verification database which companies can use to authenticate one of these certificates. How then was UBER supposed to figure out that the certificate he handed them was a forged one? UBER is a boon for middle class Indians who are otherwise at the mercy of corrupt autorickshaw drivers who have no fixed metering and fleece customers based on the hour. Also, there is atleast some sort of traceability in a cab. Had the victim been raped by an autorickshaw driver, the case would still be unsolved: just another file in a mountain of open rape cases that the Indian police is too incompetent to deal with. What happened to her was terrible, but she is being an opportunist here. This is less about ushering in accountability from UBER than it is about squeezing UBER for every penny she can. It saddens me that a fellow Indian would resort to this.
the woman was reported to have enlisted the services of Douglas Wigdor, a high-profile U.S. lawyer who represented Nafissatou Diallo, the New York City hotel maid who accused the former International Monetary Fund managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault.
How did she manage to get hooked up with the same lawyer? How did a citizen living in India get connected with a high-profile lawyer in New York?
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
Right, directly responsible gets you charged with "rape" and placed in jail, indirectly responsible gets you a lawsuit. Nobody is claiming it is the same.
Begs the question, who is behind this? I mean, DSK was French politics, but I can't figure out who here draws that kind of attention and money.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Issue firearms to only the women.
Put a cam on the driver. That should help, I think.
putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
If they refuse to play by the same rules,
Uber is doing background checks on drivers - at least as well as cab companies. Probably better because who can say how many cab drivers make it in via political favors? Uber is far newer, and thus far less corrupt than decades old cab companies at this point.
When it is a group that is in ongoing violation of the regulations,
*cough*Cab Companies*cough*
It's for instance regulation to charge a certain rate from the port to the airport in Miami. Guess what really happens? You get extra fees added on when it's time to pay. Who are you going to complain to, really? The fact is that cab companies break far more regulations every day than Uber follows in spirit, even though not technically bound to them.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Condolences to the victim, of course.
When I say, "It took this long?" I mean that a completely unregulated livery (taxi) service went this long without some Uber driver or other comitting a major crime upon one of their 'customers'?
We have regulations on taxis FOR GOOD REASONS.
The wise will short-sell stock in Uber. Or just avoid it. Too much arrogance and scofflaw-like attitude.
What flies with me is systems that work better than old corrupt systems.
Plainly Uber does a better job overall than cabs, or people would not use them.
If you are so hidebound to rules that you must follow them to your detriment, then there is no help for you I fear.
When regulations do nothing to help real people, and only restrict compassion with an old failed system - it is morally wrong to follow those regulations. I few Uber (and other companies like them) as the ultimate form of civil disobedience, and feel it is my duty as a citizen who wants to see a better world to make use of them and promote them when possible.
I have NO connection to Uber. Just a lifetime of experience with the world of Cabs that you are trying to keep us all mired in, a lifetime of poor to horrific experiences.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Um that background check only applies in the US, this happened in ANOTHER country. So this case should take place in that country instead of wasting US tax payer $$$ on a another countries court battle.
This could have happened to this person anywhere from any service.
The only solution so far as I can see is to ban all women from using any service without a trusted male chaperone.
I'm kidding but... what possible means of preventing this sort of thing is there besides just going full Sharia law with it?
Ladies, part of going outside without a male protector is at some level taking some responsibility and protecting yourself.
AND I AM NOT victim blaming. What happened to her is terrible. Rape is wrong. Rape is wrong. Rape. Is. Wrong. It is a terrible crime and anyone that is convicted of it can expect no mercy from me.
That said, if you get raped at a taco bell... that isn't taco bell's fault so long as they followed best practices for hiring and screening employees. What are they supposed to do?
Look, if you want to throw the book at someone, throw the book at the rapist.
Simply going after Uber just looks like going after someone with deep pockets because you want money. And that is nearly as disgusting as the rape itself. That is right. People that use rape to make money are terrible people too.
I don't see how Uber is responsible for the crime. Nail the rapist. Enough with the pathetic attempts to get cash.
I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
Just rate the driver one star.
If you make enough money to be high profile, you will get sued?
I'm sure even in India rape means jail time, did she file a complaint against the actual driver with the New Delhi police?
best description yet for uber.. and guess what.. it's illegal in most places in the u.s. for this very reason... IT ISN'T SAFE.
here's your sign.
There is no taxpayer money wasted.
You are an idiot.
The involved parties pay for the lawsuit. Either the losing side for the total, or if the case is a draw, both their 50% share.
Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
How is this Ubers fault? This is like suing a newspaper for not doing background checks on people sending/calling in classified adds when something bad happens in regards to them. Uber is just creating the meeting place for people to exchange a service, not providing the service themselves. People who use it have to recognize that fact and take proper precautions, as you would with any classified/craigslist/etc add.
I "am not happy" with my Apple products. Can I game the USA legal system to become millionaire too?
Have we suddenly forgotten how totally crappy public transport in India is? Where 6 men can rape a woman to death with a steel pipe in a crowded pubic bus and nobody intervenes? Or the 6 guys who raped a Swiss tourist who was bicycling? Or this copycat rape where the bus driver and bus conductor refused to let the woman off the bus, drove to an isolated spot, raped her, and 5 others also joined in? Or the police refusing to listen, instead laughing when the family tried to report their two girls missing - they were later found raped and hanged?
Have we forgotten the Indian practice of bride burning if the wife doesn't bring what the groom and his family considers an adequate dowry with her?
On second thought, let me rephrase that. Have we suddenly forgotten how much of a sh*thole India is if you're a woman and you're not high-caste and moneyed? The problem isn't Uber, or this crass venue-shopping. The problem is India.
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
It is infuriating that people get the facts of this case wrong.
1) It was rape. Period. Medical examinations after the fact confirmed it, and the rapist confessed, not only to raping this woman, but also to raping the woman in 2011, for which he was acquitted.
2) Uber India does NOT perform background checks at all, so they are liable. There can't be specualtion as to the thoroughness of their background check process, becasue there isn't one. They claim to require a commercial permit to drive a taxi, but clearly, they don't verify the validity of such a document, because not only wasn't the rapist permitted to drive local taxis, his permit was forged.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/09/world/asia/new-delhi-bans-uber-after-driver-is-accused-of-rape.html?_r=0
Well, Uber does operate in India, and it was a Uber employee who did this rape while on the job. BART would only be responsible if one of its employees murdered a passenger on a trip b/w Hayward and SF.
Uber has stipulated the crime therefor its not allaged. "deepest sympathies remain with the victim of this horrific crime."
Would you write allaged if it was a man whom have been a victim?
Victim is https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik...
Culprit is https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik...
and
http://www.firstpost.com/livin...
Casteism