Judge Sides With Passenger Over Uber's Fine Print

Raise your hand if you read through all the fine print of Uber's "terms and conditions" when downloading the app. Somewhere in there is a clause stipulating that you won't sue and must instead settle any dispute through binding arbitration, notes the Philadelphia Inquirer. But a Philly judge has just sided with a passenger and allowed her to sue over an accident in which she suffered a fractured spine. Jillian Kemenosh was sitting in the back seat when her Uber driver ran a red light and crashed into another vehicle, the newspaper reports. She sued the company and the driver, preferring that a jury determine what she is owed. Uber then argued that she had forfeited her right to sue, but a common pleas judge disagreed.

The judge noted that Uber didn't require Kemonosh to click a box saying she had, in fact, read the terms and conditions. Therefore, it couldn't prove she was made aware of them. Nor did Uber email her a copy of the legalities. Either of those things might have swayed judge Abbe Fletman, but "Uber took none of these steps," Fletman wrote. Uber has another week to appeal the ruling. For the record, that fine print runs more than 5,500 words, notes Fox 17. (The company has to pay $4.4 million over sexual harassment allegations by female employees.)