A couple who suffered serious injuries in a crash while in an Uber have been told they cannot sue the firm – because they previously agreed to terms for Uber Eats.
Georgia and John McGinty, from New Jersey, tried to sue the taxi service company in a complaint on 23 February 2023 after an Uber driver “ran a red light and t-boned a vehicle”, according to court documents.
Mrs McGinty needed “numerous surgeries” after suffering cervical and spine fractures, a protruding hernia and injuries to her pelvic floor.
Her husband sustained a fractured sternum and has diminished use in his left wrist, following the crash on 31 March 2022.
However, the Superior Court of New Jersey has ruled terms they agreed to on 8 January 2022 – which the couple said was approved by their daughter while ordering food – are “valid”.
The court highlighted part of the conditions, which states that “incidents or accidents resulting in personal injury to you or anyone else that you allege occurred in connection with your use of services… will be settled by binding individual arbitration between you and Uber, and not in a court of law”.
The ruling added: “We hold that the arbitration provision contained in the agreement under review, which Georgia or her minor daughter, while using her cell phone agreed to, is valid and enforceable.”
Arbitration allows people to settle disputes without going to court and generally involves a neutral arbitrator who reviews arguments before making a binding decision.
Mr and Mrs McGinty may appeal against the decision to the state’s Supreme Court, their lawyers suggested to Law&Crime, a US-based news publication.
In a statement to the same website, the couple said: “We are horrified at what the court’s decision suggests: A large corporation like Uber can avoid being sued in a court of law by injured consumers because of contractual language buried in a dozen-page-long user agreement concerning services unrelated to the one that caused the consumers’ injuries.”
They added: “Here, the content, format, and presentation – dozens of pages on an iPhone screen during a food delivery order – make it impossible that anyone could understand what rights they were potentially waiving or how drastic the consequences could be.”
Law&Crime reports Uber said the court “concluded that on multiple occasions the plaintiff herself – not her teenage daughter – agreed to Uber’s Terms of Use, including the arbitration agreement”.
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The case is reminiscent of Disney’s recent bid to throw out a wrongful death claim because the accuser signed up for a one-month trial of its streaming service Disney+.
Disney said the first page of its subscriber agreement states “any dispute between You and Us… is subject to a class action waiver and must be resolved by individual binding arbitration”.
Uber has been approached for comment.