Uber has been fined $ 59 million for data on sexual assault. Now he can pay only $ 150,000

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The California Public Utilities Commission has already been fined Uber (UBER) $ 59 million in December 2020 and threatened to suspend its operating license in the state after the company failed to comply with a request for sexual assault data. But that fine has now been reduced to just $ 150,000, according to a draft agreement tabled Thursday.

The reduced fine is part of a larger deal resulting from months of talks between Uber, the Consumer Protection and Enforcement Division of the CPUC, and the National Rape, Abuse and Incest Network, an organization non-profit. The agreement is awaiting approval by an administrative judge as well as by the CPUC.

Lyft has yet to disclose incidents of sexual assault as cases rise

According to the Agreement, Uber has agreed to provide anonymized data on incidents of sexual assault and to give those reporting such incidents the opportunity to agree to be contacted by the CPUC in the future. Uber will also invest more money in the issue, agreeing to donate $ 5 million to the California Victims Compensation Board, which helps victims of violence in the state, and $ 4 million to expand efforts nationwide. industry, including the development of best practices in classifying, reporting and responding to these types of incidents. (Uber agreed to deposit the combined $ 9 million with the CPUC’s finance office.)

The agreement also provides that future requests for comprehensive data associated with sexual violence should be directed to the industry as a whole, rather than Uber or a single company.

“We were able to find a way forward that preserves the privacy and freedom of action of survivors of sexual assault,” Tony West, senior vice president and general counsel at Uber, said in a statement. “We look forward to continuing to work with the Commission to shed light on this societal issue and help set the standard. “

The CPUC said its commissioners could always reject the settlement or propose alternative terms.

The investigation originally stemmed from Uber’s Safety Transparency Report in December 2019, which the company pledged to publish after a CNN investigation into motorist sexual assault and abuse. The Safety Transparency Report, which Uber said it plans to publish every two years, found that the company received nearly 6,000 reports of sexual assault in 2017 and 2018 on its platform. Of those incidents, Uber found that 1,243 reports of sexual assault and sexual harassment were in California, or 21% of all complaints.
The CPUC wanted Uber to provide more details of the incidents, including the date, time and location of each assault, the identity of each witness, and the name and contact details of the person to whom they reported the incidents. incidents at the time. Uber opposed the data release, which it said may re-traumatize survivors and appealed the fine. (As part of the deal, Uber agreed to provide information on the employees who worked on the sealed report.)
Lyft, which has also promised to release a report, has yet to do so. When asked for an update on the status of the report last month, a Lyft spokesperson said the company was waiting for the Uber and CPUC dispute to be resolved before releasing it.
Elevator (ELEVATOR) did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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