Uber and driver Vu Tran have been ordered to pay $40 million in arbitration to the parents of Emily Normandin-Parker, 23, killed after being left on a Southern California freeway.
ABC News / GMA reports she and friend Luna Moore were intoxicated after a night out when Tran pulled over at an “unsafe and illegal” gore point on State Route 73 in Orange County, argued over a cleaning fee and put them out. Normandin-Parker later entered the freeway and was struck; GPS showed Tran drove near her body then sought a cleaning fee. Arbitrator Richard Stone found Tran’s account incredible, held Uber jointly liable as a common carrier (rejecting tech-only and Prop 22 shields), awarded $20m each to parents Carol Normandin and Ken Parker, and $300,000 to Moore. Uber disputes the legal finding; the family is funding a safety foundation.