Uber is now fighting to undo the two major sexual assault bellwether verdicts it has lost in federal court. In Arizona, Uber said it would appeal after a jury awarded $8.5 million to Jaylynn Dean, who alleged she was raped by an Uber driver in 2023. The jury found Uber liable under an apparent agency theory, although it rejected negligence claims and did not award punitive damages. In North Carolina, Uber has appealed a Charlotte jury’s $5,000 verdict for Brianna Mensing, who testified that an Uber driver grabbed her upper inner thigh during a 2019 ride. Uber argues that the North Carolina verdict was the result of legal and evidentiary errors, including the judge’s conclusion that Uber could be held responsible for rider assaults under state law. Together, the appeals show that Uber is not only contesting individual verdicts, but also trying to limit the legal theories that could shape thousands of pending passenger sexual assault claims in the broader federal litigation. [SOURCE: AOL]