Skip to main content

Uber’s troubles continue as London woman reports sexual harassment by driver

uber cuts prices 48 cities promises drivers wont lose
360b / Shutterstock
Lately, it hasn’t been a fun time for driving service Uber. The latest news, courtesy of Newsweek, doesn’t make the company’s life any easier as a sleazy driver was fired for sexual harassment.

According to the report, in March, a London woman was asked by the Uber driver whether he could perform oral sex on her. “Toward the end of the journey he was asking if I liked blow jobs, saying that he was very good at going down on girls or giving ‘sucky sucky’ to girls and did I want him to do it to me,” wrote the woman to the outlet. “He even suggested that he could pull over into a side street and do it now if I wanted, which was I think the scariest part of the drive.”

The woman brought the issue of his misconduct up to Uber, and a marketing manager replied to the woman. The manager told her that the company’s driver operations manager was already looking into the driver and assured the woman that “the necessary actions will be taken to avoid a similar incident in the future.”

She was unsatisfied with the answer and wrote to the company about the incident again, albeit in a more specific manner. A different Uber marketing manager replied, apologizing to her and assuring her that “while things like this should definitely not happen in the first place, in the unlikely event that they do occur we have the full details of the driver, trip, and rider on our systems so that we can immediately investigate any concerns raised.”

The woman was given £20 (roughly $31) worth of Uber credit, though the woman apparently never heard back from the company about what happened to the driver. Uber did not confirm to Newsweek that the driver was fired, but said he is “no longer on the Uber platform.” Shockingly, the spokesman confirmed to the outlet that Uber has no official way on dealing with such incidents because “incidences of this nature are so rare that an official policy is not needed.”

This is particularly shocking, given the nature of Uber’s business. According to Newsweek, it’s received numerous complaints from London women about experiencing unwanted advances in Uber cabs, and coupled with the alleged rape of a passenger in Delhi by an Uber driver and another Uber driver chastising a New York woman who is suffering from cancer, you’d think there would be some kind of official policy in place.

Williams Pelegrin
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Williams is an avid New York Yankees fan, speaks Spanish, resides in Colorado, and has an affinity for Frosted Flakes. Send…
I record interviews for work. These are my favorite free recorder apps
The iPhone 14 Pro and Google Pixel 7 Pro's voice recording apps running together.

The Voice Recorder app on a phone (left) and the Voice Memos on another phone Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Before you head to the app store on your phone to buy a voice-recording app, take a moment to consider the apps that may already be installed on your phone. Why? In my experience, they're likely all you really need. I’ve recorded interviews and voice-overs for work for years, and I’ve found the two best examples come preinstalled on your phone already, so they’re entirely free to use.

Read more
The best Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 cases: 10 best ones so far
Two Galaxy Z Fold 5 phones next to each other -- one is open and one is closed.

Samsung’s next-generation foldable is here with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5. This iteration has some notable improvements, including a new hinge design that eliminates the gap from previous generations when the device was folded. You also get a 6.2-inch HD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display on the outside while having a 6.7-inch QXGA+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display on the inside, with both screens having a 120Hz refresh rate. In other words, they're about as nice as you could ask for.

The Galaxy Z Fold 5 is made with premium materials, and the triple-lens camera system packs in a 50MP main shooter, 10MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom, and a 12MP ultrawide lens. There’s a 10MP selfie camera on the front cover, and a 4MP camera on the inner display. You also get a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chip inside for the best performance and power efficiency.

Read more
Google Pixel Tablet just got its first big discount and it’s worth a look
Google Pixel Tablet on its charging dock.

Tablets are a dime-a-dozen these days, with offerings from all the great brands including Apple, Samsung, Lenovo, and more. So, if you really want to stand out in a sea of similar tech, you need to do things a little differently. That's what Google's Pixel Tablet offers. How? It comes with a unique speaker dock that can be used to both charge the device and offer room-filling sound -- almost like a smart speaker add-on. Better yet, when your Pixel Tablet is docked it benefits from the Hub Mode, turning the device into a smart display, with digital photo frame support, smart home controls, and hands-free Google functionality. Of course, it could set you back at full price, normally $499 unless you find it included in a roundup of the best Google Pixel deals. Well, guess what? Thanks to a Best Buy Google Pixel Tablet deal, you can get it today for $439 and save $60. Hurry, though, it's part of Best Buy's recent 48-hour sale so it won't stick around for long.

Why you should buy the Google Pixel Tablet
Okay, okay, so in our Google Pixel Tablet review, Joe Maring did give it less than stellar remarks, but he called out its reliable fingerprint sensor, comfortability during use and excellent speaker dock. Honestly, how many tablets come with a matching speaker dock that transforms the entire experience? This tablet also marks a "lot of firsts" for Google, as it's the first tablet from the company in nearly five years, the first Android tablet in eight years, and can be converted into a smart home display with the speaker dock. All of which are notable milestones.

Read more