Uber to pay $40 million in compensation for the death of a passenger left halfway

Uber will pay $40 million in compensation for the death of a passenger left halfway

A court has ordered the Uber taxi service in the US to pay $40 million in compensation to the family of a 23-year-old girl who died on a California highway.

According to court documents, on August 12, 2023, a girl named Emily Normandin-Parker and her friend called an Uber to return home. On the way, her friend felt unwell and vomited inside the car. Seeing this, the driver stopped on the shoulder of the highway and forced the drunk girls out of the car. After that, Normandin-Parker was struck by another vehicle and died.

"Emily followed all the rules that Uber recommends to passengers — she made a responsible decision not to drive while intoxicated, and we trusted Uber to get her home safely," the girl's parents said. "That trust cost us dearly."

A representative of the law firm representing the family's interests said that after a five-day arbitration process, the judge ordered Uber to pay $40 million to Normandin-Parker's parents.

The family's lawyers said that after leaving the two girls on the highway, the driver, Vu Tran, did not even call for help for them. Instead, he pulled over, contacted Uber, and demanded that Normandin-Parker be charged a fee to clean the car's interior.

In a statement to ABC, an Uber representative expressed condolences to the family of the deceased, but stated that the company considers the judge's decision to be an error. Although the company claimed to be a "simple technological platform" connecting drivers and passengers, the court did not accept this objection.

Emily's parents said that after the court's decision, Uber tried to take measures to prevent damage to the company's reputation and sent a settlement letter to the deceased's home, which included a demand not to make statements damaging the company's reputation and a $10 million fine for "any negative feedback."