Topline:<\/p>\n
Uber must pay $40 million to the parents of a woman who was struck and killed after an Uber driver left her on an Orange County freeway in 2023, an arbitrator has ruled.<\/p>\n
About the case: On Aug. 12, 2023, Uber driver Vu Tran picked up Emily Normandin-Parker and her friend, Luna Moore, from a bar. When Moore started throwing up in the car, Tran stopped at a gore point \u2014 the small, triangular area at the off-ramp \u2014 on State Route 73. As Tran and Moore argued, Normandin-Parker, 23, was struck and killed after wandering into traffic because she was inebriated, according to the ruling. Normandin-Parker\u2019s parents and Moore sued Tran and Uber in Orange County Superior Court in September 2023, and the parties agreed to arbitration. Richard Stone, a retired judge who served as the arbitrator, wrote that it was hard to determine exactly what happened because the testimony of both Moore and Tran were not entirely credible. Stone awarded Normandin-Parker\u2019s parents, Carol Normandin and Ken Parker, $20 million each, and Moore $300,000.<\/p>\n
Uber’s response: The arbitrator rejected Uber\u2019s arguments that California\u2019s Proposition 22 \u2014 a voter-approved law written by Uber and other gig companies that cemented drivers\u2019 status as independent contractors, not employees \u2014 shields it from liability for a driver\u2019s actions. Stone wrote that when California voters passed Prop. 22 in 2020, they could not have intended to do away with Uber\u2019s liability for its drivers\u2019 actions. He noted that the language in the ballot proposition urging voters to approve it referred to classifying drivers as independent contractors, meaning they would not get standard benefits and protections like employees would. Uber spokesperson Gabriela Condarco-Quesada told CalMatters that the company disagrees with the decision.<\/p>\n
Uber must pay $40 million to the parents of a woman who was struck and killed after an Uber driver left her on an Orange County freeway in 2023, an arbitrator has ruled.<\/p>\n
The arbitrator rejected Uber\u2019s arguments that California\u2019s Proposition 22 \u2014 a voter-approved law written by Uber and other gig companies that cemented drivers\u2019 status<\/a> as independent contractors, not employees \u2014 shields it from liability for a driver\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n \u201cProp. 22 does not immunize Uber from vicarious liability\u201d for the wrongdoing of its drivers, Richard Stone, a retired judge who served as the arbitrator, wrote in his July arbitration award. Vicarious liability is indirect liability for the actions of another, such as in instances where the parties have a legal relationship.<\/p>\n In his earlier ruling in March, Stone wrote that when California voters passed Prop. 22 in 2020, they could not have intended to do away with Uber\u2019s liability for its drivers\u2019 actions. He noted that the language in the ballot proposition urging voters to approve it referred to classifying drivers as independent contractors, meaning they would not get standard benefits and protections like employees would.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no reference in key voter materials to the liability of app-based transportation companies,\u201d Stone wrote. \u201cNot a word.\u201d<\/p>\n On Aug. 12, 2023, Uber driver Vu Tran picked up Emily Normandin-Parker and her friend, Luna Moore, from a bar. When Moore started throwing up in the car, Tran stopped at a gore point \u2014 the small, triangular area at the off-ramp \u2014 on State Route 73. As Tran and Moore argued, Normandin-Parker, 23, was struck and killed after wandering into traffic because she was inebriated, according to the ruling. Stone wrote that it was hard to determine exactly what happened because the testimony of both Moore and Tran were not entirely credible.<\/p>\n Normandin-Parker\u2019s parents and Moore sued Tran and Uber in Orange County Superior Court in September 2023, and the parties agreed to arbitration. Stone awarded Normandin-Parker\u2019s parents, Carol Normandin and Ken Parker, $20 million each, and Moore $300,000.<\/p>\n Uber reported revenue of more than $14 billion and net income of more than $2 billion in its second quarter that ended in June.<\/p>\n Uber spokesperson Gabriela Condarco-Quesada told CalMatters that the company disagrees with the decision.<\/p>\n \u201cWe believe the arbitrator was wrong in holding Uber legally responsible for the tragic events of that night,\u201d she said, citing Prop. 22. Uber, along with companies such as DoorDash, Lyft and Instacart, spent more than $200 million on the ballot initiative.<\/p>\n She also said the company\u2019s \u201cthoughts continue to be with the Normandin-Parker family.\u201d<\/p>\n Parker pushed back on what he called a spin campaign by Uber, noting that the company tried to keep them from talking about the arbitrator\u2019s award.<\/p>\n \u201cTheir thoughts have never been with us,\u201d he told CalMatters on Thursday, the day he and Normandin appeared on Good Morning America to discuss the case and the death of their daughter, a UCLA graduate.<\/p>\n Parker said Uber has never apologized or acknowledged responsibility, and that throughout the arbitration process the company was \u201cat best aloof and at worst distastefully crass.\u201d<\/p>\n In a November filing, the company argued the incident \u201cwas the result of Moore and Normandin-Parker\u2019s extreme intoxication, which was existent because of Moore\u2019s and Normandin-Parker\u2019s intentional conduct \u2014 not Tran\u2019s driving.\u201d<\/p>\n The award will help fund the Emily Normandin-Parker Foundation, which her parents created last year. Part of the foundation\u2019s mission will be to hold corporations accountable, particularly in the ride-hailing industry, Parker said. He said that might come through advocacy in legislation, regulations or the \u201ccourt of public opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n The arbitrator also rejected Uber\u2019s argument that it is not a common carrier that transports people or goods, but a transportation network company because it\u2019s licensed as such by the Public Utilities Code. Stone wrote that Uber could be subject to both public utility rules and a non-transferable legal duty for safety as a common carrier at the same time, citing other cases in which the company was deemed to be a common carrier. Further, he said another California law, Proposition 51, does not apply in this case. Prop. 51 limits liability for non-economic damages to a defendant\u2019s proportionate share of fault. Stone said Uber is 100% responsible for the driver\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n Lawyers for Normandin-Parker\u2019s parents said evidence presented during the arbitration showed Uber had received previous complaints about Tran’s driving.<\/p>\n Uber said in a filing that Tran had a valid driver\u2019s license and passed its background check, and that the company had no duty to train Tran beyond that because he was an independent contractor. The company spokesperson said this week that Tran, who can no longer drive for Uber, had completed thousands of trips without any unsafe drop-offs, freeway stops or rider injury.<\/p>\n CalMatters contacted the law firm that represented Tran but did not immediately receive a response.<\/p>\n Stone wrote that he hopes Uber \u201cwill learn from this tragic incident \u2026 and change the pertinent policies and procedures accordingly. Should it fail to do so, it no doubt engages in that approach at its own substantial risk.\u201d<\/p>\n This article was originally published on CalMatters<\/a> and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives<\/a> license.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Topline: Uber must pay $40 million to the parents of a woman who was struck and killed after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":471902,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164],"class_list":["post-471901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=471901"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471901\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/471902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=471901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=471901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=471901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}