INDUSTRY NEWS
Uber to pay at least $10 million to settle suit over driver background checks
The ride-sharing service could potentially pay up to $25 million to settle a civil suit over claims that the company embellished the stringency of its background check policy.
The suit arose amid claims that Uber misrepresented their background screening process as “industry-leading” and “the gold standard” of safety measures when in fact the company’s background checks were inferior to the ones that taxi drivers undergo.
According to The New York Times, in a crunch to add drivers for their services, ride-sharing companies, such as Uber and Lyft, chose speed over quality when it came to background checks for its drivers. What resulted was a process that failed to uncover criminal records of 25 of its drivers in Los Angeles. and San Francisco, according to district attorney’s in each of those cities.
As a result of the settlement, the company must reword its safety-related language pertaining to the fee that the company charges for each ride.
The settlement, filed on Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, requires the company to pay $10 million to be split equally between the district attorneys of LA and San Francisco. Uber will be required to pay an additional $15 million if it fails to comply with all of the terms of the settlement within two years.
Source: The New York Times, 4/7/2016