meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
What Next | Daily News and Analysis

She Led the Trial Against Uber - and Won

What Next | Daily News and Analysis

Slate Podcasts

News, Daily News, News Commentary

4.32.4K Ratings

🗓️ 11 February 2026

⏱️ 25 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Although sexual assault and rape by rideshare drivers has been widely reported, Uber itself largely avoided legal liability until last week, when a jury decided the company had to pay $8.5 million to a woman who said she was raped by her Uber driver. 


Guest:  Sarah London, co-Lead and liaison counsel in the multidistrict litigation against Uber.


Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.


Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Sarah, when was the last time you took an Uber?

0:09.4

I can't even remember. It would have been probably in 2017.

0:17.0

I have not had the Uber app on my phone in very long time.

0:25.5

Sarah London is an attorney.

0:28.5

The only ride share app I guess I have on my phone is Waymo.

0:32.9

Driverless, notably.

0:34.6

A driverless one, yes.

0:38.1

Sarah's approach to getting around makes more sense when you understand what she does for a living.

0:43.8

Because her clients are people who are suing Uber.

0:47.6

These folks say Uber's practices left them vulnerable to sexual assault.

0:52.8

And last week, Sarah and one of her clients, Jalen Dean, got a big

0:57.8

victory. A ride-share juggernaut Uber is ordered to pay $8.5 million to a woman who claimed a driver

1:06.7

for the company raped her. Jalen Dean's lawsuit against the ride share giant came after a 2023 ride in Arizona.

1:14.6

It's also seen as a federal.

1:15.6

My client, she was unfortunately matched with somebody that Uber had identified as high risk, but had not told her.

1:25.1

And within five minutes, he took a detour, pulled off into a dark, deserted

1:30.6

place, and got into the backseat and raped her. What did the jury say Uber's role here was?

1:39.5

They found Uber responsible for holding out the driver as its agent. Under that claim, Uber is

1:48.3

responsible for the behavior of the driver. And responsible for $8.5 million worth of damages

1:53.9

to your client, right? That's right. That's right. That is what the jury found. Yes.

1:59.4

You know, that verdict, that amount in damages,

2:02.6

it's much less than you asked for. You asked for over $100 million in damages. Do you still see it as a

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Slate Podcasts, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Slate Podcasts and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.