Parents awarded $40 million after Uber found liable for passenger who was fatally struck on highway

The parents of a 23-year-old woman who was fatally struck after her Uber driver pulled over along a southern California highway were awarded $40 million after an arbitrator found both Uber and the driver liable for her death.

Carol Normandin and Ken Parker said Friday that they hope the amount will put a spotlight on the 2023 death of their daughter, Emily Normandin-Parker and to use the money to advocate for strengthening safety standards and transparency in the ride-hailing industry.

“I want to do good with it,” Parker said of the money, but “I never wanted it. No parent would ever want it. The best thing about it is that it’s bringing attention to the issue that sorely needs attention.”

On the night she was killed, Normandin-Parker had ordered the Uber for her and her friend to get home after spending a night out drinking alcohol. When the friend got sick and vomited, driver Vu Tran pulled over on the side of Route 73 in Orange County and all three got out of the car before Normandin-Parker was hit by traffic.

During arbitration, Uber had argued that it’s a technology platform connecting riders with “independent third-party drivers,” according to the independent arbitrator, Richard Stone. But Stone, a retired judge, wrote that he rejected that argument and found Uber was “vicariously liable” for the driver’s negligence.

Uber disagreed.

“While we respect the arbitration process, we believe the arbitrator was wrong in holding Uber legally responsible for the tragic events of that night,” the company said in a statement, adding that they have continued to “strengthen our approach to safety over the years.”

Attorneys who represented Tran at the arbitration hearing did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

The arbitration document, dated in July, was released by Normandin and Parker’s attorneys this week. Stone decided Uber and Tran were jointly responsible for $20 million to each parent.

There are holes in what ultimately happened “in those crucial moments,” the arbitrator wrote, as “no one presented entirely credible testimony.” But the evidence shows Tran pulled into a gore point — the area between a ramp and the road — and began to argue with Normandin-Parker’s friend outside of the car, according to Stone.

Neither saw traffic hit Normandin-Parker.

“In a fit of anger, he needlessly placed them (and himself) in danger by illegally stopping in the gore point when he could have easily … stopped in a safe place instead alongside an active freeway at night,” Stone wrote. “Tran then abandoned those two young women, whom he knew to be intoxicated and whom he had kicked out of his car in his anger over what had transpired, in that spot.”

After Tran left the scene, GPS data shows he pulled over at the next exit and called Uber about securing a cleaning fee, Stone said.

California law allows Uber and other ride-sharing platforms to treat their drivers as independent contractors, but Stone rejected the idea that that absolves Uber of liability. Uber should “learn from this tragic incident” and change its approach to passenger safety, Stone wrote.

“Should it fail to do so, it no doubt engages in that approach at its own substantial risk,” he said.

The case went through arbitration because Uber’s terms of service, which riders agree to when they sign up, require claims or disputes be resolved with the private resolution process. The arbitrator’s decision, unlike a court ruling, does not establish legal precedent.

Uber said in its statement that it continues to invest in safety with “new technology, policies and safeguards” and guidance to drivers on avoiding unsafe drop-off locations and said its work on safety “is never finished.”

Normandin and Parker remembered their daughter for her creativity, sense of humor and kindness. She was a writer, working on being a playwright, an older sister and an advocate for others. They established the Emily Normandin-Parker Foundation and said they will also be using the money to fund scholarship and mentorship opportunities and to support LGBTQ+ organizations.

They criticized Uber’s response as a reflection of the company’s “pathological inability to admit responsibility.”

“They’re focused on their bottom line, to the detriment of safety,” Parker said. “They don’t care about safety. They care about money.”