Uber accused of hiring drivers with criminal records

On Wednesday, prosecutors revealed that Uber’s background checks had not flagged 25 drivers with criminal records across Los Angeles and San Francisco.

The San Francisco-based Uber could not immediately be reached for comment, but the company said in a statement to the San Francisco Chronicle that safety is a top priority for the firm and that no screening system is flawless.

It’s an amendment to a lawsuit filed in December against Uber.

The complaint states that these “systemic failures” with Uber’s background checks even allowed serious and violent felony convictions to go completely unnoticed by the company. As a result, there are bound to be a few drivers that slip through the cracks.

One of the drivers in question is a convicted murderer who spent 26 years in prison before being released on parole in Los Angeles in 2008, the complaint says. These scans are the only ones which update after the driver has been hired, alerting their employer to any crimes committed after they become an employee. A background report turned up no records relating to his murder conviction.

He allegedly joined Uber in 2014 under a fake name and gave 1,168 rides before being discovered.

Plenty of tragic incidents have come to the media’s attention, starting from the driver who was a felon convicted of committing lascivious acts against an underage child.

He noted, however, that no such link was found with Uber Black, the company’s highest priced service, consisting of commercially registered and insured livery vehicles – typically a black SUV or luxury sedan with a significant markup over traditional taxicabs. Yet another was convicted of burglary and identity theft.

Uber lost its bid for dismissal of that case last month.

But they say companies such as Uber are infringing on that exclusivity, making their investment worthless. The suit led by Gascon here is not focused on which background checks Uber users, but if customers are being deceived. The corporate can also be sparring with California’s labour commissioner over a June ruling that drivers connecting with shoppers by way of its app have to be handled as staff, with a minimal wage, mileage compensation and social safety.

For one female Uber rider, Gabriella Natali, the recent allegation “probably” won’t make her avoid using Uber. Claims like these are impossible given the lack of biometric identifier and limited history.

“I support technological innovation“, Gascon said in an e-mailed statement. State Sen. Larry Grooms, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee and one of the leaders in getting a bill regulating Uber through the Legislature this summer, said people take risks whenever they leave their safety up to others.