Court finds Uber is a common carrier with passenger duty
The decision followed a five-day arbitration process and hearing, according to a release from the law firm Panish, Shea and Ravipudi, which represented Normandin-Parker’s family. The court rejected Uber’s argument that it only provides a software platform connecting riders with independent drivers, holding instead that Uber functions as a common carrier with a non-delegable duty to protect its passengers.
The ruling classifies Uber as a common carrier — a legal status that the court found carries a non-delegable duty to protect passengers, obligations the company had argued belonged to its drivers.
According to the law firm’s release, Normandin-Parker called an Uber for a ride home following a night out with a friend. After the friend became sick, the driver, Vu Tran, pulled over on the freeway and ordered the two women to leave the vehicle. Normandin-Parker, who was intoxicated, was left stranded alongside multiple lanes of freeway traffic, where she was struck by several vehicles and killed.
Tran reportedly left the scene and, shortly afterward, requested that Uber charge Normandin-Parker’s account a cleaning fee, the release said. Prior to the incident, Uber had received multiple complaints about Tran, according to Panish, Shea and Ravipudi.
Rahul Ravipudi, a partner at the firm, said in a statement that the ruling is about accountability, “not only for Emily and her family, but for every passenger who trusts Uber to get them home safely.”
Uber did not immediately respond to a request for comment.