In towns across Connecticut, including Marlborough, East Hartford, Sandy Hook, Hartford, Niantic, Beacon Falls and Brookfield, people who requested rides through Uber say those trips took a disturbing turn. Individuals who believed they were taking a safe ride home instead describe harassment, coercion, and sexual assault.
Many of those survivors are my clients.
Their experiences echo allegations now being tested in courtrooms across the country.
Earlier this year, a federal jury heard the case of Jaylynn Dean, a 19-year-old passenger who ordered what she believed would be a safe Uber ride back to her hotel. Instead, she was sexually assaulted by the driver Uber sent to pick her up. After nearly four weeks of testimony, the jury found Uber liable and awarded Ms. Dean $8.5 million in damages.
Her case was the first “bellwether” trial in nationwide litigation involving more than 3,000 sexual assault claims brought by passengers against Uber. Bellwether trials are designed to test evidence and arguments that may shape the outcome of other cases.
Evidence presented in court raised significant questions about Uber’s safety measures against what Uber promises to riders. Jurors heard testimony that Uber’s internal systems had identified the ride in Ms. Dean’s case as presenting an elevated risk of a sexual assault. Yet the trip proceeded without any warning to the passenger and without additional safeguards.
Ultimately, jurors concluded that the Uber was responsible for its driver’s actions.
Why This Matters in Connecticut
Rideshare services are widely used across Connecticut by college students heading home from campus, commuters traveling between train stations and suburban neighborhoods, and residents who rely on these platforms for everyday transportation.
Yet reports from communities across the state reveal troubling patterns. Riders have described drivers making explicit sexual comments, touching passengers without consent, pressuring riders for sexual acts, or deviating from the expected route while they were alone in the vehicle.
For many people, requesting a rideshare requires trust. Companies like Uber have spent years marketing their platforms as a safe and reliable way to get home, particularly for women traveling alone at night.
Cases like Jaylynn Dean’s raise a critical and necessary question to address: What preventative safety measures must rideshare companies like Uber implement to ensure riders are being protected as promised?
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What Riders Should Know
Most rideshare apps include safety tools, though many users may not realize they are there. Riders can share trip details with trusted contacts, confirm the driver’s name and license plate before entering the vehicle, and use in-app emergency or reporting features if something feels wrong.
While these tools can help riders feel safe, they do little to prevent a sexual assault from happening as these cases allege. And in fact they place much of the responsibility on the passenger.
As the plaintiffs in the rideshare litigation have alleged, more needs to be done by the rideshare companies to prevent sexual assault and sexual misconduct on their platforms nationwide. The companies can implement mandatory dashcams and provide women-to-women preferred rides to increase rider safety.
Additionally, providing riders with clearer information about safety risks would allow people to make more informed decisions before accepting a ride.
Support for Survivors
For survivors of sexual assault, the aftermath can be overwhelming. Fear, confusion and uncertainty often make it difficult to know what to do next. Reaching out to trusted support organizations, medical professionals or law enforcement can be an important first step, though it often takes extraordinary courage.
In Connecticut, confidential support is available through organizations such as the Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence and local crisis centers across the state. These groups provide counseling, crisis support and guidance for survivors navigating the aftermath of an assault.
Survivors should also understand that they have legal rights. Speaking with an attorney can help uncover what happened and pursue accountability when companies fail to protect the people who rely on their platforms. Civil cases can also bring transparency to systems that otherwise operate behind closed doors and help create change.
As a mother of two daughters, I think often about the systems they will one day rely on to move safely through the world. Technology has made transportation easier and more accessible than ever before. But convenience should never come at the expense of safety.
When someone requests a ride home, the expectation is simple: they should arrive safely.
Atty. Roopal Luhana is a founding partner of Chaffin Luhana LLP and co-lead counsel in the national Uber passenger sexual assault litigation. The firm has offices in Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven and Stamford as well as New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
Original press release published March 12, 2026, via Hartford Courant.
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