Uber has been ordered to pay $40 million to the parents of a 23-year-old woman who died after an Uber driver forced her and a friend out of the car on the shoulder of Orange County’s State Route 73, according to the family’s attorneys.
Emily Normandin-Parker was riding with a friend on the night of Aug. 12, 2023, after a night out when the driver stopped on the freeway shoulder after the friend vomited in the car, then made both women get out and drove away, the article said. Normandin-Parker was struck and killed by another vehicle shortly after the Uber left.
The case went to a five-day arbitration, a private legal process often used to resolve disputes outside court. Uber argued the driver was an independent contractor under California law and that it could not be held legally responsible for his actions. But the retired judge serving as arbitrator ruled that Uber was liable and awarded $20 million each to Normandin-Parker’s mother and father.
Uber said it sympathized with the family but disagreed with the ruling and would challenge the decision. The family’s attorneys said the matter involved conditions restricting public comment after arbitration, but the details provided were incomplete in the Korean article.
