The LA and San Francisco District Attorneys took the planet’s mega-taxi provider Uber to court this week, LA Weekly reported. It’s a civil suit, filed in Superior Court, accusing Uber of misrepresenting the quality and reliability of its driver background checks—in violation of California business and professions codes.
The suit also says Uber cars pick up and drops off passengers at LAX illegally, and that they charge passengers suspicious fees.
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“We don’t want the consumer to believe they do the ultimate background checks” on their drivers, DA Jackie Lacey told LA Weekly. “They don’t.”
The suit seeks a permanent injunction against those alleged practices.
Both DAs have already settled with Uber’s planetary arch-rival Lyft, over similar violations. Apparently, Lyft agreed to stop bragging about those heavy duty background checks which they don’t do. And Lyft will no longer send its drivers into California airports without legal permission.
Uber spokeswoman Eva Behrend issued the following statement in response to the suit:
Californians and California lawmakers all agree—Uber is an integral, safe, and established part of the transportation ecosystem in the Golden State. Uber has met with the District Attorneys to address their concerns regarding airport operations, the uberPOOL product, background checks, and operation of the app. We will continue to engage in discussions with the District Attorneys.
So there’s going to be war.
Uber, co-founded by Travis Kalanick, who is Jewish, is valued at $18.2 billion.
See the full report here.
