Uber says a couple involved in a major accident can’t sue because their daughter ordered UberEats

Uber ( UBER ) successfully blocked a personal injury lawsuit involving one of its drivers running a red light, arguing that the plaintiffs agreed not to file any lawsuits against the company when they agreed to the terms of use of it.

On September 20, a New Jersey appeals court ruled that an arbitration provision in Uber’s terms is “valid and enforceable.”

Arbitration is a form of dispute resolution in which a neutral third party listens to both parties and makes a binding decision. Many major companies include an arbitration clause in their terms.

John and Georgia McGnity, a couple from New Jersey, originally filed the lawsuit against the company in 2023 after suffering major injuries while riding in an Uber.

In March 2022, the couple’s Uber driver ran a red light, and according to court documents, the crash left Georgia with “cervical and lumbar spine fractures, rib fractures, a protruding hernia, traumatic injuries to her abdominal wall, pelvic floor and other physical injuries.”

John suffered “a fractured sternum and severe fractures to his left arm and wrist.”

Uber filed a motion to compel arbitration alleging that when Georgia signed up with Uber in 2015, she agreed to an arbitration agreement that waived her right to a lawsuit. Uber said Georgia then accepted updated terms in 2021 and 2022, both of which included arbitration clauses.

The couple claimed their daughter had unwittingly agreed to the latest terms in 2022 when she used her Uber Eats account in Georgia to order a pizza.

A trial court initially agreed with the couple, ruling that Uber’s arbitration agreement “did not clearly and unambiguously inform the plaintiff of her waiver of her right to pursue her claims in a court of law.”

However, Uber appealed the decision and managed to convince an appeals court that the agreement was valid even though it was accepted by the couple’s daughter.

“Despite claims to the contrary, the court found that the plaintiff herself — not her teenage daughter — agreed to Uber’s Terms of Service, including the arbitration agreement, on multiple occasions,” Uber said in an emailed statement. -mail to Quartz.

Disney ( DIS ) recently made a similar argument when it tried to dismiss a wrongful-death lawsuit, claiming that the plaintiff agreed to an arbitration agreement when he signed up for a free trial of Disney+. However, the media conglomerate has changed course and is no longer trying to dismiss the case.

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