CHICAGO, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Uber ( UBER ) is not liable for the

sexual assault of a woman who said she was attacked by her

driver on a ride she ordered from the app, a California jury

said on Tuesday, according to an attorney for the plaintiff.

At the end of a three-week civil trial in San Francisco

Superior Court, the jury rejected the woman's argument that Uber ( UBER )

was to blame for her assault.

The case was the first to go to trial out of more than 500

lawsuits consolidated in California state court. There are also

more than 2,500 lawsuits making similar claims that have been

centralized in a federal court in California.

The woman, who went by Jessica C. at trial, sued in 2021,

claiming she was assaulted by an Uber ( UBER ) driver in 2016. During the

ride, her driver pulled off on a side street, restraining,

groping and kissing her, according to her attorneys.

Her lawsuit was chosen to serve as the first "bellwether"

for the state court litigation. In litigation with many

plaintiffs asserting similar claims, bellwether trials are used

to test the claims and establish what they may be worth. Judges

may use the outcome of the trial to manage the remaining cases,

or lawyers can use them to inform settlement negotiations.

The woman's attorneys had asked the jury for between

$175,000 and $1.2 million in compensatory damages for each year

of her life, suggesting larger figures for the years closest to

the assault. They did not suggest a number for punitive

damages.

SAFETY PRACTICES IN THE SPOTLIGHT

The lawsuits allege Uber ( UBER ) was aware it had a problem with

drivers assaulting riders, but kept data on how many assaults

took place from the public and did not take action to address

the issue.

The plaintiffs have argued that Uber ( UBER ) knew that things like

assigning female riders to female drivers or requiring dash cams

to record driver and passenger interactions would reduce

assaults, but failed to broadly implement such programs.

Uber ( UBER ) has maintained it should not be liable for criminal

conduct by the drivers it connects with passengers, and that its

background checks and disclosures about assaults were

sufficient.

The litigation threatens to reopen wounds from Uber's ( UBER ) early

years, when the company was dogged by safety controversies,

allegations of lax driver vetting, and a culture critics said

prioritized growth over protecting passengers.

With hundreds of millions of dollars potentially at stake,

the outcome could weigh on Uber's ( UBER ) balance sheet and complicate

its relationships with regulators and investors who have closely

tracked its safety record.

The company has made safety a central talking point in

recent years, publishing U.S. Safety Reports that detail

reported sexual assaults, rolling out features such as in-app

ride verification, video and audio recording of rides, anomaly

detection, and partnering with survivor advocacy groups to

reform driver training.

Uber ( UBER ) has also touted the formation of a Safety Advisory

Board chaired by former U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh

Johnson, and pledged $10 million through its "Driving Change"

initiative to support organizations working to end gender-based

violence.

Despite these measures, Uber's ( UBER ) safety reputation has

remained fragile. In its latest safety report published last

year, covering the 2021-2022 period, Uber ( UBER ) said reports of

serious sexual assault on its platform have fallen by 44% since

its first report in 2017-2018. But with thousands of cases still

documented, critics say systemic risks remain.

Prompted by an August New York Times report on the issue, a

U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee sent a letter last

week to Uber ( UBER ) CEO Dara Khosrowshahi seeking information on the

company's protocols for responding to and preventing sexual

assaults on its rides.