Uber says it’s ‘not legally responsible’ in NC sexual assault involving Rock Hill girls
There is no dispute a 12-year-old Rock Hill girl was sexually attacked in North Carolina by a man last year after she and her 13-year-old female friend took an Uber there and back, court documents state.
But the rideshare company wants a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed in July that claims Uber was negligent in delivering the girls.
The attacker had nothing to do with the company, Uber says in court documents. The company also called what Fayvion Jarrod Williams, 19, did in attacking one girl as the other was nearby “a terrible crime.” Williams set up the meeting with the girls online, records show.
“Uber is not legally responsible for Williams’ crimes for the same reason why the manufacturer of his computer and his Internet service provider are not responsible: The law is settled that a person’s mere use of a lawful product or service to commit a crime does not make the producer or provider of that product or service liable for that crime,” Uber’s lawyers stated in court filings in late September.
The criminal case and civil case are separate. Williams, the convicted attacker, is not named as a defendant in the civil lawsuit.
But the legal team representing the families say Uber was negligent when its drivers took the girls back and forth in the sex trafficking that left them damaged physically and mentally.
“All wrongdoers have not yet been held accountable,” lawyers for the family wrote in court documents filed late Thursday.
They want the suit to go forward, including with details about how Uber’s profits are in the billions of dollars.
“The trafficker had the children delivered to him over an hour away and across state lines simply by ordering them a ride on Uber’s global ridesharing app,” documents filed by the families’ lawyers said . “When he was done with them, he sent them back the same way. Both Uber Drivers were aware that the girls were underage. But neither declined to take them on the hour trip across state lines without an adult chaperone or parental permission.”
The lawsuit alleges negligence and illegal sex trafficking against Uber and the unnamed drivers. It seeks punitive and other damages.
The suit has been filed anonymously so the victims are not identified.
The attack
Williams is serving an 11-year prison sentence in North Carolina after pleading guilty in July to the November 2023 sex crimes, records show. Williams took video of his assault on the younger girl while the other was nearby, then sent the second girl the video, court documents show.
He met the girls online and communicated through Facebook messenger, according to records.
The victims’ families contacted police in both states after they were dropped back in South Carolina after the attack. Williams was then arrested.
Should Uber’s profits be an issue in the case?
Uber had the lawsuit moved from South Carolina state court in York County to federal court in Columbia in August. Then in late September asked U.S. District Court Judge Mary Geiger Lewis to dismiss the case.
Also in September, Uber asked Lewis in a separate filing to remove parts of the lawsuit, including how much money the company makes.
The references to Uber’s profits ”are made with the single, illegitimate goal of painting Defendants in a negative light,” Uber’s lawyers wrote.
Uber also wants the judge to take out lawsuit statements about the online site Reddit and a national news report about other rideshare lawsuits, as well as references other human trafficking. Uber says those statements are not relevant to the case.
However, lawyers for the families argue Uber did not act to stop the “real and present danger” of underage riders and child sex trafficking.
“This case implicates Uber’s failure to reasonably address and prevent trafficking on its platform, despite multiple warnings—including from the FBI — and Uber’s other direct and constructive knowledge of this widespread problem and of the prevalence of drivers giving unsanctioned rides to unaccompanied minors,” the families’ lawyers wrote in Thursday’s filing.
What happens now?
Lewis has not yet ruled on Uber’s request to dismiss the case or the family lawyers’ filing Thursday.
Judge Lewis has given Uber until Nov. 7 to file a response.
She has not yet ruled on whether mention of Uber’s profits will remain in the suit.
The judge has ordered mediation and for both sides to have records turned over to each other by the middle of next year.
No trial date has been set.
This story was originally published October 28, 2024 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Uber says it’s ‘not legally responsible’ in NC sexual assault involving Rock Hill girls."
