Uber Ride Share Tries to Dismiss Federal Lawsuit For Sexual Assault

Reuters News Service reports today that Uber, the ride sharing company, is trying to dismiss a lawsuit filed in Federal Court in California alleging rape by a driver. (See story here).  The sexual assault occurred in Delhi, India and Uber is claiming that the party has no jurisdiction to file suit in U.S. District Court.

This is not the first time Uber has been sued for a sexual assault by a driver.  There have been other lawsuits filed here in California and elsewhere alleging a failure to properly screen drivers prior to hire.  The difference here is that the incident took place overseas but, it is not unprecedented to file a lawsuit in U.S. Federal Court for an incident taking place outside of the U.S. if the defendant is doing business in the United States and is "availing themselves" of the U.S forum.

It will be interesting to see if the Motion to Dismiss the claim is granted or denied and, whether Uber will continue to fight based upon alleged lack of jurisdiction.  I will be following this litigation and will provide further blogs.