Sunita Somvanshi
# Uber Ordered to Pay $40 Million Over Death of Woman Left on California Freeway
If you’ve ever assumed Uber has no responsibility once a driver drops you off, this ruling says otherwise. A retired judge acting as arbitrator has ordered Uber to pay $40 million to the parents of a 23-year-old woman who was struck and killed after her driver left her stranded on a Southern California freeway on-ramp.
Retired Judge Richard Stone, serving as arbitrator, found Uber vicariously liable for driver Vu Tran’s negligence in the August 2023 death of Emily Normandin-Parker. Tran had picked up Normandin-Parker and her friend Luna Moore from a bar. When Moore became sick in the car, Tran stopped near a gore point, the narrow triangular strip where a freeway off-ramp splits from the highway, on State Route 73. Normandin-Parker wandered into traffic and was struck and killed. Stone’s July arbitration award gave her parents, Carol Normandin and Ken Parker, $20 million each, and awarded Moore $300,000.
If you use rideshare apps, this ruling directly affects how much legal protection you can expect from the company itself, beyond whatever the driver is personally liable for. Stone rejected Uber’s argument that California’s Proposition 22, the 2020 ballot measure Uber helped write to classify drivers as independent contractors, shields the company from liability for a driver’s actions. Stone wrote that voters could not have intended, in passing Prop. 22, to eliminate Uber’s liability for its drivers’ actions. He also ruled Uber qualifies as a common carrier. That means it holds a non-delegable legal duty to keep passengers safe, separate from its status as a licensed transportation network company under California’s Public Utilities Code.
Why Prop. 22 Didn’t Protect Uber
Uber spent more than $200 million alongside DoorDash, Lyft, and Instacart to pass Prop. 22 in 2020. The law protected the companies from having to classify drivers as employees, with all the benefits that involves. Stone’s ruling draws a clear line here. Classifying drivers as contractors is one question; whether the company can be held liable when a driver’s actions get a passenger killed is a separate one. Stone also rejected Uber’s argument that it merely operates a technology platform connecting riders with independent drivers, finding instead that Uber controls key aspects of the rider experience, sets fares, and profits directly from rides.
Uber has said it disagrees with the decision. A company spokesperson said its “thoughts continue to be with the Normandin-Parker family,” a statement Ken Parker has called part of a “spin campaign,” saying Uber has never apologized or acknowledged responsibility.
Does Prop. 22 protect Uber from wrongful death claims? No. Arbitrator Richard Stone ruled that Proposition 22 only affects how drivers are classified for employment purposes and does not shield Uber from liability when a driver’s negligence leads to a passenger’s death. As an arbitration award rather than a court ruling, the decision resolves this specific case and is not binding legal precedent for future lawsuits, though it may influence how similar claims are argued.
The $40 million award followed a five-day arbitration process. Whether Uber challenges the award or changes its safety policies in response remains the open question.
