Skip to content 
The first bellwether trial in the Uber passenger sexual assault multidistrict litigation (MDL No. 3084) is set to begin December 8, 2025, in San Francisco federal court before U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer. The lead case, Dean v. Uber, involves an Arizona woman who alleges she was raped by an Uber driver. According to her complaint, Uber had already received prior complaints about the same driver, including reports of lewd comments and unwanted touching, yet failed to suspend him or notify passengers.
In recent rulings, Judge Breyer narrowed some claims but allowed others to proceed. Fraud claims tied to Uber’s “designated driver” advertising were dismissed, but the judge permitted allegations concerning potentially misleading app notifications about driver safety to move forward. Product liability claims related to Uber’s lack of same-gender ride-match features were also allowed, meaning jurors could weigh whether the app’s design contributed to unsafe conditions. (This despite the fact that Uber recently announced the rollout of a gender-matching pilot program; a safety feature that has been offered for several years outside the U.S.)
The second case in the Wave 1 trial lineup was selected by the defense and will involve an anonymous North Carolina plaintiff. In MDLs, the bellwether cases are usually chosen through an alternating process: plaintiffs’ counsel selects a case, the defense selects the next one and so on. (Occasionally the court makes its own picks.)
This approach ensures that both sides’ perspectives are tested. Naturally, plaintiffs’ lawyers tend to choose cases they believe highlight strong evidence and clear liability, while the defense tends to select cases they see as weaker or more favorable to their arguments. By running both types of cases through trial, the court gains a more balanced picture of how juries may respond across the broader pool of lawsuits.
The remainder of the First Wave cases will be selected in the coming weeks.
Looking further ahead, Judge Breyer has instructed both sides to jointly propose five additional cases for a second wave of trials, which will help test recurring issues across the MDL. If the Dean matter is resolved before December, either through settlement or dismissal, another Wave 1 case will be substituted into the December slot.
Legal observers note that Dean v. Uber carries unusual weight within the MDL. If Dean’s legal team deftly presents the timeline clearly, that Uber repeatedly ignored warnings about the driver yet took no action, resulting in the violent violent assault, the jury may return a significant plaintiff verdict. A plaintiff’s victory here would not only impact Dean personally but could also set benchmarks for settlement negotiations across more than 2,400 pending cases in the MDL.
In addition to the federal MDL, hundreds of separate Uber sexual assault lawsuits are consolidated in California state court. The first of those cases is scheduled for trial in September 2025. The outcomes in the state and federal systems, although distinct litigation, may very well influence each other and may determine whether Uber seeks broad settlements or risks further jury trials.
For more information on Uber sexual assault lawsuits, visit our comprehensive guide.
