Uber, Facing Sexual-Assault Litigation, Pushes Plan That May Curb Suits
The New York Times
Uber has spent millions trying to get a proposal on the Nevada ballot that would restrict the legal fees that bankroll many lawsuits against companies.
It has been a decades-long dream of corporate America: making it harder for aggrieved customers, workers and others to file lawsuits against companies seeking compensation for alleged injuries, mistreatment and other harms.
Now Uber, the giant ride-hailing company that has been a magnet for such litigation, is pitching a plan that could fulfill that fantasy, at least in one state.
The company is seeking to place a measure on Nevada’s ballot that would drastically limit the amount of money that lawyers could collect when they brought successful lawsuits. If the measure passes, it will make it less attractive — and in some cases financially impractical — for plaintiffs’ lawyers to file such suits.
The initiative is being spearheaded by Nevadans for Fair Recovery, a political action committee created this year by Uber and its lobbyists. The company has put $5 million into the PAC and is its only financial backer, campaign finance records show.
The PAC has presented the measure as a way to protect people from trial lawyers who are “getting rich at the expense of plaintiffs and everyone else,” as the group says on its website alongside a picture of someone sliding a $100 dollar bill into a suit pocket.
