Its never a complete news day if there are no reports of imminent lawsuits against Uber. Most of the lawsuits dogging Uber are mostly related to its Business model. There was particularly strong opposition to the UberPop/UberX service in most countries in countries like France where taxi drivers oppose its perceived unfair competition. The company has also had to deal with issues to do with security concerns in markets like India, attributed to a rape case by one of Uber drivers. Uber has also faced a class action suit brought against Uber and its competitor Lyft by its drivers seeking to be reclassified as employees as opposed to independent contractors. The same matter has now become a key campaign issue in the United States election.
A California court has now fined Uber $9.9 million, for refusing to give state regulators information about its business practices, including accident details and how accessible vehicles are to disabled riders. The law suit is a continuation of a previous one in California where it was accused of discriminating against disabled riders who are blind or in wheelchairs. The United States law requires transportation companies to make reasonable accommodations for the disabled. In making the ruling, the judge argued that Uber failed to provide sufficient information into these practices. The company argues that offering more information to the authorities was likely to jeopardize the privacy of both its passengers and its driver partners. That is a hefty fair for Uber as it continues ever growing legal and political challenges to both its business and operations.
