A House oversight subcommittee on Wednesday opened an inquiry into how Uber handles incidents of sexual assault and sexual misconduct on its ride-sharing platform.
The inquiry comes weeks after a New York Times investigation found that such incidents occur, on average, tens of thousands of times a year, an amount far more pervasive than what the company has previously disclosed.
Representative Nancy Mace, Republican of South Carolina, said in a letter to Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber’s chief executive, that the reporting raised “questions about how Uber identifies, responds to and discloses incidents of sexual assault and sexual misconduct on its platform.”
“The volume of incidents uncovered by recent reporting indicates a persistent safety hazard for those who rely on ride sharing for transportation and highlights a need for enhanced and expanded safety tools to better prevent sexual assault and misconduct,” said Rep. Mace, the chairwoman of the subcommittee on cybersecurity, information technology and government innovation.
The letter to Mr. Khosrowshahi cited the Times article, which found that Uber had received a report of sexual assault or sexual misconduct in the United States almost every eight minutes on average between 2017 and 2022. During that time frame, a total of 400,181 Uber trips resulted in reports of sexual assault and sexual misconduct in the United States, court documents show.
Previously, the company had disclosed 12,522 accounts of serious sexual assaults for that period, without indicating the total number of sexual assault and sexual misconduct reports it received.
“The disparity between previously disclosed data and recent reporting raises concerns about the accuracy and completeness of safety data,” said Ms. Mace, who has built a political reputation around personal trauma and has shared stories about her experiences with sexual assault.
“We appreciate the opportunity to meet with subcommittee staff to share more about Uber’s leading technology, strong policies and expert partnerships that prioritize women’s safety,” Matt Kallman, an Uber spokesman, said in a statement.
The company has long maintained that the vast majority of its trips in the United States — 99.9 percent — occur without an incident of any kind. Uber has said that about 75 percent of the 400,181 reports were “less serious,” such as making comments about someone’s appearance, flirting or using explicit language.
The company has said that the reports had not been audited and could include incorrect or fraudulent reports submitted by people trying to get a refund.
The Times found that teams of data scientists and safety experts inside Uber had spent years studying the problem and testing tools that proved effective at making trips safer, including sophisticated matching algorithms, mandatory video recording and pairing female passengers with female drivers. But the company delayed or did not require some of the most promising programs, nor did it warn passengers about the factors it linked to attacks.
Uber is now facing more than 3,000 lawsuits in federal and state courts from passengers who claimed that they had been sexually assaulted or harassed by Uber drivers. Lyft, Uber’s smaller rival, is facing hundreds of similar lawsuits. A central question is whether the companies are responsible for the misconduct of their drivers.
On Thursday, a state court heard closing arguments in the first trial in California state court proceedings that consolidated hundreds of sexual misconduct lawsuits against Uber. The lawsuit involves a woman who said she was sexually assaulted during an Uber ride to the airport in San Jose, Calif., in December 2016. According to Uber, the driver had passed a background check and the company had received no serious complaints against him before this incident.
During opening statements, lawyers for the woman revealed updated Uber data showing that more than 558,000 Uber trips resulted in reports of sexual assault and sexual misconduct in the United States from 2017 to 2024. Reports of sexual assault and sexual misconduct increased in 2024 from the previous year, the court records show.
Emily Steel is an investigative reporter covering business for The Times. She has uncovered sexual harassment at major companies and recently has focused on aviation safety issues.
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