On May 18, 2018, LA Times columnist David Lazarus interviewed HSR partner Barbara Hadsell concerning her thoughts on Uber’s and Lyft’s new “#MeToo” policies. The policies purportedly will allow customers who have been victims of sexual assault or harassment to pursue legal claims in court rather than being limited to forced arbitration requirements. The two companies also stated they will remove a confidentiality clause, allowing victims to open up publicly about assault and harassment by the companies’ drivers.
Lazarus quoted Hadsell extensively in support of the proposition that while the new policies are a step in the right direction, they definitely do not go far enough and in fact, continue to prohibit victims from uniting in class action proceedings. Moreover, customers claiming they were wronged by acts other than sexual harassment would still be deprived of the opportunity to have their claims tried by a jury of their peers and would be limited to arbitration.
Hadsell, whose firm specializes in all forms of discrimination and civil rights cases, takes issue with Uber and Lyft’s restrictions on class actions, telling Lazarus, “Going forward as a class sends a different but similarly important message…..It shows that it’s not just one woman or one crazy driver. It says something is wrong with the company.”
#metoo, #sexualharassment, #sexualmisconduct, #timesup