550 women have launched a legal case against Uber in San Francisco, claiming that they were assaulted, attacked or even raped by the firm's drivers.

The filing includes allegations that women passengers in the USA have been "kidnapped, sexually assaulted, sexually battered, raped, falsely imprisoned, stalker, harassed, or otherwise attacked by Uber drivers" in multiple states, and that the company ignored these incidents in pursuit of 'growth'.

The legal complaint filed by Slater Slater Schulman LLP claims that Uber was made aware that its drivers were sexually assaulting female passengers as early as 2014.

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However, it argues that sexual predators have continued to drive for Uber and attack passengers.

Adam Slater, founding partner at the law firm, said: "Uber's whole business model is predicated on giving people a safe ride home, but rider safety was never their concern—growth was, at the expense of their passengers' safety.

"While the company has acknowledged this crisis of sexual assault in recent years, its actual response has been slow and inadequate, with horrific consequences."

In a statement, Uber told the Daily Star: "Sexual assault is a horrific crime and we take every single report seriously.

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"There is nothing more important than safety, which is why Uber has built new safety features, established survivor-centric policies, and been more transparent about serious incidents. While we can't comment on pending litigation, we will continue to keep safety at the heart of our work."

Uber also highlighted numerous safety features in its app, including an emergency button, on-trip reporting, ride verification, trip sharing and more.

The court case follows the release of Uber's US Safety Report last month, which stated there were 998 cases of sexual assault by drivers against passengers, including 141 rape reports in 2020 alone.

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