Law firm Slater and Gordon announced on Wednesday it is investigating a potential class action on behalf of women who have experienced sexual assault, harassment or misconduct while using Uber's services in Australia.
The firm's practice group leader, Cindy Bors, said the action would centre on whether Uber has done enough to protect women, rather than claims against individual drivers. "Women should be able to get home in an Uber safely, without being frightened or violated by the person behind the wheel, or left wondering whether anyone will listen and act," Bors said.
The announcement follows a flood of legal actions in Australia and abroad over Uber's handling of driver misconduct claims. The investigation is in response to women coming forward with their experiences. "The harm doesn't end when the Uber trip ends," Bors said. "Some people may have felt that their experience was not serious enough to report, or that reporting would not make a difference. We want to hear from women about what happened, and how Uber responded."
Uber has long maintained that its drivers are independent contractors, not employees, and that it is a technology platform rather than a transport provider. Bors said she did not believe that argument was adequate when it came to sexual assault. "Ultimately, Uber control and operate a tech platform and control who has access. I don't think it's a shield to say that [the drivers] are independent contractors."
The case of Canberra woman Taylor Mostacci, whose full story is to be aired in an upcoming 60 Minutes investigation, illustrates the issues at stake. Mostacci was 19 when she was indecently assaulted by an Uber driver on the way to her university ball in 2021. "He touched my breasts and I just froze," she said. The driver's account was suspended but later reactivated after he denied the assault. She reported the incident to police, and in 2025 an ACT court convicted the driver. "I'll never risk being in an Uber by myself. Uber has a responsibility to take care of its customers, and it has a responsibility to protect us, to look after us," Mostacci said.
The investigation also draws on developments in the United States, where more than 4,000 complainants have litigated. The first plaintiff victory occurred this year, with Uber ordered to pay US$8.5 million in damages to a rider. The New York Times reported in 2025 that Uber had underreported sexual assaults in the US, publicly disclosing 12,522 allegations over five years when court documents later revealed a total of 400,181. According to the Times, Uber has invested in an algorithmic tool based on 43 factors to assess risk when pairing drivers and passengers. In US testing, the tool correctly anticipated 15 per cent of assaults, but Uber continued to pair high-risk drivers and riders in part because blocking such pairings could leave riders stranded in certain situations, such as late-night pick-ups near bars.
An Uber spokeswoman said the company was "committed to listening to feedback, pushing harder, and innovating more to make every trip better and safer, every single day." She said safety was a core value and that Uber had "invested billions of dollars and countless hours" to protect users. "One sexual assault is one too many, and we take every report seriously," she said. The spokeswoman also noted that unfair-deactivation laws in Australia had made it difficult to respond swiftly to allegations, despite reforms in June, and called for further immediate reform.