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The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office has launched an investigation into Uber’s handling of sexual assault reports and its public claims about rider safety, The New York Times reported yesterday.
According to two individuals familiar with the inquiry, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin’s office is examining whether the ride-hailing giant may have misled consumers about the safety of its platform. The probe, which remains in its early stages, focuses on whether Uber’s marketing and safety representations match the experiences of passengers and drivers. In September, the Attorney General’s Office issued a subpoena to Uber seeking internal data on sexual assault and misconduct complaints, along with company records related to safety training, policy development, and response protocols. Investigators are also reviewing Uber’s decisions regarding which safety features to implement or postpone.
The investigation follows an August report by The New York Times that revealed sexual violence in Uber rides may be far more common than previously disclosed. Court documents cited in the report indicated that between 2017 and 2022, Uber received reports of sexual assault or misconduct in the United States roughly every eight minutes. The Times also found that Uber’s internal safety teams had spent years analyzing the issue and developing potentially effective prevention tools, such as matching algorithms, automatic video recording, and driver-passenger gender pairing. However, the company allegedly delayed or abandoned several of these initiatives and failed to alert users about certain risk factors.
An Uber spokesperson said the company is cooperating with the New Jersey inquiry and remains committed to transparency. “We’ve been clear and transparent with the public about the incidents that occur on our platform through our safety reports, which show that serious safety issues are exceedingly rare,” the spokesperson said. The company maintains that 99.9 percent of its U.S. rides take place without incident.
This investigation comes as Uber faces increasing scrutiny nationwide. In September, a House Oversight Subcommittee opened a separate inquiry into how the company manages reports of sexual assault and misconduct on its platform. Uber is also defending itself in more than 3,000 lawsuits filed in both state and federal courts by survivors who allege they were sexually assaulted or harassed by drivers. Many of those cases have been consolidated in a multidistrict litigation (MDL) proceeding in the Northern District of California before Judge Charles Breyer, which aims to streamline discovery and trial preparation.
A central question in these lawsuits is whether Uber bears legal responsibility for assaults committed by drivers operating under its platform. In one early verdict, a California jury recently found that Uber was not liable for a 2016 assault experienced by a passenger during a ride. The jury determined that although the company had been negligent in its general safety policies at the time, that negligence was not a substantial factor in causing the attack.
The growing number of lawsuits and government investigations underscores how the legal landscape surrounding rideshare liability is shifting. Plaintiffs argue that Uber’s policies and business model effectively created a public safety hazard by allowing drivers with insufficient vetting to transport passengers, while the company continues to assert that it has implemented robust safety measures and that incidents remain statistically rare.
The broader Uber sexual assault litigation continues to move forward, with bellwether trials in the federal MDL expected to begin in late 2025. Survivors and their attorneys see these cases as an opportunity to not only secure financial compensation but also to drive meaningful reforms in rideshare safety standards. For coverage of the first Uber trial verdict and its likely appeal involving California’s rape shield law, see our reports here and here.
If you are a survivor of sexual assault involving an Uber driver, you may still have legal rights. Learn more about how to pursue justice and compensation through our Uber Sexual Assault Lawsuit Guide.
