Uber Passenger Makes Claim That The Company Laughed At Him Over A Sexual Assault Report

Uber has been in a bit of hot water lately as many people have complained about how Uber handles sexual assault cases. Most recently, one Uber user claims that after he was sexually assaulted by his driver, an Uber representative laughed at him – then she hung up.

Kevin Ko was taking an Uber back home on September 19, according to Gizmodo. During his trip, Ko says that the driver grabbed Ko's left wrist. Then, against Ko's will, pulled his hand over to touch the driver's erect genitalia.

"He grabbed my left wrist with physical force, out of nowhere and placed my hand on his genitals – not once, but TWICE," Ko said. "The first time I yelled, 'what the f**k!' in disgust."

"I was scared, I didn't know who he was or what he was capable of," Ko continued. "Afterwards, just a short moment after, for the second time he has the audacity to grab my wrist again to bring my hand near his genitalia."

Once Ko arrived at home, he called Uber's Critical Safety Response Line to report the sexual assault. But the response from the representative was less than concerned. According to Ko, the representative actually laughed at him three times during the call. When he asked to speak with her manager, she claimed she was the highest level on the team, would not transfer Ko's call, and promptly hung up.

Later that night, Ko did receive an email directly from Uber discussing his sexual assault claim. In short, an Uber representative, Lucas, said that they intended to fully investigate the crime and refund Ko for his ride that night – though they couldn't give him any other types of compensation. Ko is currently suffering from anxiety given the driver put Ko's address into his GPS and perhaps has a record of where Ko lives now.

Eventually, Ko found out that that specific driver had been permanently banned from Uber. The company said, "There is no excuse for the behavior described. The driver has been removed from the platform."

One of the problems that is plaguing Uber is that the company doesn't seem to be able to manage or prevent sexual assault cases against drivers and passengers. Over the last few months, there have been 14 cases of sexual assault against passengers from Uber drivers. One woman in California was actually assaulted by an Uber driver after she had been dropped off at her home. The driver in that case was charged with sexual assault.

In Ko's case, no arrest has currently been made.

[H/T Gizmodo]