Uber lawsuit withdrawal: Indian woman's lawyer mum over issue

NEW YORK: The lawyer of a young Indian woman allegedly raped by an Uber driver in New Delhi in December last year has declined to comment on why she has "voluntarily" dismissed the lawsuit she had filed in a California court against the app-based taxi service company.

"I have no comment - please refer to the docket sheet of the court," attorney Douglas Wigdor told PTI in an email response when asked why the lawsuit was dismissed and what were the terms of dismissal.

In a very brief notice filed on September 1 in US District Court, Northern District of California, the woman's lawyers submitted that "Plaintiff Jane Doe hereby voluntarily dismisses the above-captioned action against Defendant Uber Technologies with prejudice...Each side shall bear its own costs, expense expenses, and attorneys' fees."

Since the Indian woman was not named in the lawsuit, she was identified as 'Jane Doe.

There was no further mention in the court papers about why the case was dismissed and under what terms.

The woman had filed the lawsuit against Uber in January this year alleging that Uber does not adequately screen its drivers and its "negligence and fraud" lead to her being sexually assaulted and humiliated.

She had sought an unspecified amount of damages and compensation for the "physical and monetary" harm and the damage to her "professional and personal reputations" the assault had caused.

The lawsuit had said that had Uber done a basic background check on its driver Shiv Kumar Yadav, it would have found that Yadav had provided fraudulent documents and had a "known propensity" for "violent and deviant conduct, including numerous arrests for rape and assault.

The lawsuit had described in detail the night of December 5, 2014 when the young woman was "raped and sodomised" by Yadav.

It said Yadav repeatedly threatened to kill her and warned that if she yelled or tried to escape, "he would insert a metal rod inside her," alluding to the horrific December 2012 gang rape of a young student known throughout India 'Nirbhaya'.

In April, Uber had sought dismissal of the lawsuit saying the woman was taking action against the "wrong party" and it does not have any relationship with the driver.

Wigdor had said the company's move to dismiss the lawsuit was an "obvious attempt" to deflect responsibility and the ride-sharing firm will be held accountable for its actions.