An Indian Women who were brutally raped in Delhi by her Uber driver in December 2014 has sued the company alleging that the Uber executives have illegally obtained and mishandled her medical records.
The woman, identified only as Jane Doe in the lawsuit filed in federal court in California, against Uber, chief executive Travis Kalanick, Uber’s former vice president for business in Asia Eric Alexander and the company’s then-senior vice president for business Emil Michael.
The Indian woman and currently lives in the United States sued Uber for the second time. Earlier in 2015 alleging that the company had not established sufficient safety standards. That case was settled a few months later. However, her fresh lawsuit has been under the scanner for many other reasons citing the timeline of events. It remains to be seen what will come out of the new case lodged and if Uber was again at fault.
According to the reports, the Uber executives who viewed her files, which included CEO Travis Kalanick and senior vice president Emil Michael, had started to believe the incident had somehow been orchestrated by Indian ride-hailing company Ola.
The attacker Shiv Kumar Yadav who was convicted of rape had given a life sentence in prison in 2015. The lawsuit filed on Thursday said shortly after the rape occurred, a U.S. Uber executive “met with Delhi police and intentionally obtained plaintiff’s confidential medical records.” The lawsuit also stated that Uber has retained a copy of those records.
As the stated in tech site Recode, following the incident, Alexander obtained her medical records and carted the file around for many months after showing it to a number of executives including Michael and Kalanick. Alexander has since been fired. Michael has left the company and Kalanick is taking a leave of absence.
Victims lawyer, Douglas Wigdor, said:“It is shocking that Travis Kalanick could publicly say that Uber would do everything to support our client and her family in her recovery when he and other executives were reviewing illegally obtained medical records and engaging in offensive and spurious conspiracy theories about the brutal rape she so tragically suffered. Rape denial is just another form of the toxic gender discrimination that is endemic at Uber and ingrained in its culture. Hopefully, this lawsuit coupled with the changes recommended by the independent counsel will create real change and reform at Uber and elsewhere.” Read more about Uber.
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