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Uber is being sued by a woman who was raped during a ride in New Delhi, India in 2014 for intrusion of privacy and defamation among other claims after it was revealed that an Uber executive obtained her medical records.
The woman, listed as Jane Doe in the suit, has filed a new claim in California against Uber and against the executive who obtained her records, Eric Alexander. CEO Travis Kalanick and the now-former SVP of business Emil Michael are also named in the suit.
As Recode first reported, following the incident, Alexander obtained her medical records and carted the file around for many months after showing it to a number of executives including Michael and Kalanick. Alexander has since been fired. Michael has left the company and Kalanick is taking a leave of absence.
“It is shocking that Travis Kalanick could publicly say that Uber would do everything to support our client and her family in her recovery when he and other executives were reviewing illegally obtained medical records and engaging in offensive and spurious conspiracy theories about the brutal rape she so tragically suffered,” the victim’s attorney, Douglas Wigdor, said in a statement. “Rape denial is just another form of the toxic gender discrimination that is endemic at Uber and ingrained in its culture. Hopefully, this lawsuit coupled with the changes recommended by the independent counsel will create real change and reform at Uber and elsewhere.”
The attorneys are demanding a jury trial, claiming that a few days after the incident Alexander met with Delhi police and obtained the confidential medical records. The victim is suing for intrusion into private affairs, public disclosure of private facts, and defamation. She is seeking damages of an unspecified amount.
“Uber executives duplicitously and publicly decried the rape, expressing sympathy for Plaintiff, and shock and regret at the violent attack, while privately speculating, as outlandish as it is, that she had colluded with a rival company to harm Uber’s business,” the suit reads.
The woman previously settled a suit with the company over failing to maintain basic safety measures in 2015. The driver was later convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
"No one should have to go through a horrific experience like this, and we're truly sorry that she's had to relive it over the last few weeks,” an Uber spokesperson said.
However, the suit further alleges that while Uber publicly denounced the rape it did little to support the victim.
“Uber’s feigned concern was exposed shortly thereafter when the Company failed to do anything to ‘support the victim and her family’ or to ‘make New Delhi a safer city for women,’” the suit reads.
The lawsuit comes just days after Uber unveiled the results of an investigation into its company culture and management, which was prompted by a female engineer’s account of sexism and sexual harassment she experienced while at the company. The report itself was not made public, just the law firm’s — Covington & Burling — recommendations for changes.
The attorney will be seeking to obtain the report itself as part of the discovery process.
“From the highest levels of the Company including the board level, Uber makes an intentional decision to look the other way when hiring and supervising its executives, essentially letting them ‘run wild’ so long as new business ventures continue to succeed and profits continue to roll in,” the suit reads.
Here’s the complaint:
Uber Complaint (1) by Johana Bhuiyan on Scribd
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
