Indian Rape Victim Sues Uber for Accessing Her Private Medical Records
A Indian woman filed a lawsuit in California federal court, two days after Uber Chief Executive Travis Kalanick confirmed he would take a leave of absence from his troubled company, to grieve for his recently deceased mother and to work on his leadership skills.
Since then, Uber Technologies Inc. has been calling diverse top executives, strategizing recommendations from global advisors to help Uber create an ideal work environment. The woman who had earlier made the sexual-harassment complaint against the ride-hailing has now said that the company improperly obtained her medical records after she was raped by a driver in India, according to court documents.
Kalanick, under fire for fostering a culture of sexism and rule-breaking at the company he helped found, is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit.The lawsuit cites several media reports which said Kalanick and others doubted the victim’s account of her ordeal.
The rape occurred in Delhi in December 2014.The Uber driver was convicted of rape and 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 says Uber has retained a copy of those records.
The Indian woman and currently lives in the United States, sued Uber 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 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.
