Uber ordered to pay $40M after passenger dropped off on freeway and killed

Uber has been ordered to pay $40 million toetr the parents of a 23-year-old woman who was struck and killed on a Southern California freeway after an Uber driver forcedred her and a friend out of the vehicle in an unsafe location, according to an arbitration award made public in September 2026.

The ruling stems from an incident on August 12, 2023, according to Local12. Emily Normandin-Parker, a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles, and a friend hailed an Uber ride home following a night out in Costa Mesa. During the trip, the friend became ill and vomited inside the car, as detailed by Laist.

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The driver, Vu Tran, pulled over at a gore point on State Route 73 — a triangular patch of pavement where lanes split near an off-ramp, as reported by the New York Post. Rather than continuing to a secure location, Tran ordered the passengers out of the car while he and the friend argued over a cleaning fee, according to The Guardian.

Arbitrator Richard A. Stone, a retired California judge who oversaw a five-day arbitration hearing in March, criticized the driver's conduct. The arbitrator awarded $20 million each to the victim's parents, Carol Normandin and Ken Parker, and $300,000 to her friend, Luna Moore, as reported by LADbible. Law firms representing the family noted that the driver failed to call for help and instead focused on demanding a cleaning fee, showing far more worry for his new car than for his passengers.

Central to the legal battle was Uber's defense that California's Proposition 22 — a 2020 ballot initiative funded by gig companies that classified drivers as independent contractors rather than employees, shields the platform from liability. Judge Stone rejected this argument. In his ruling, he stated that nothing in the ballot measure indicated voters intended to remove corporate liability for a driver's actions on the road, noting that key campaign materials contained no reference to app-based company liability.

Stone also dismissed arguments that Uber operates strictly as a transportation network company rather than a common carrier, finding that the platform carries a non-transferable legal duty for passenger safety. He concluded that Uber bore full responsibility for the driver's negligence.

Uber spokesperson Gabriela Condarco-Quesada stated that the company respects the arbitration process but disagrees with the legal reasoning holding it responsible, pointing out that the company has continued to strengthen safety guidelines for drivers regarding unsafe drop-offs. The company also confirmed that the driver no longer has access to the platform.

Family attorneys revealed that Uber had initially proposed a settlement offering $10 million while attempting to enforce strict confidentiality clauses that included financial penalties for speaking out. The family rejected the agreement, choosing instead to bring the case to the public spotlight through appearances on programs such as Good Morning America.

The family intends to direct proceeds from the case toward the Emily Normandin-Parker Foundation, which advocates for enhanced rideshare safety protections and corporate accountability.

What happens next: The arbitration ruling is not binding on other cases and applies strictly to this dispute, though legal experts expect it to influence ongoing debates over gig-economy liability. Uber has indicated it plans to contest the decision, while the family and their legal team continue their advocacy work through their newly established foundation.