Former Taco Bell Exec Caught On Video Beating Uber Driver Files Lawsuit

The man seen drunkenly assaulting a southern California Uber driver in a video that went viral now claims in a lawsuit he never consented to the recording. Golden filed court papers claiming that driver Edward Caban illegally recorded the incident, and actually said that the driver was responsible for his own injuries.

Courtney Pilchman, the lawyer for Golden, branded Caban “quite the opportunist” in his damages claim, saying she “doesn’t believe” he is suffering from emotional stress.

Caban’s lawyer said that Golden’s claims about the recording’s legal status and his blaming of Caban are “disingenuous” and “totally bogus”.

Golden also claims that unknown other persons – whom he is also suing – violated the law further by disseminating the video of that encounter that Caban later posted on YouTube, and which has been viewed well over 2 million times.

As a result of media coverage, Golden says he suffered emotional distress, humiliation and the loss of his job.

Golden was arrested after the incident, and is charged with multiple misdemeanor charges of assault and battery.

The viral footage showed Golden repeatedly smacking Caban in the head after the driver stopped to kick the passenger out of his vehicle for being too drunk to give directions. Taco Bell fired Golden as the company’s Mobile Experience & Innovation Lead, with a spokesperson saying, “Given the behavior of the individual, it is clear he can no longer work for us”.

Caban described Golden as “incredibly intoxicated” and said that he refused to provide the full address of the house he was going to.

Golden was also swearing at Caban, he claims, telling him to ‘f****** turn this piece of s*** around’.

Days after the assault, the driver filed suit for more than $25,000 in damages for “assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligent infliction of emotional distress”, ABC 7 reported in November. They also said he was “seeking counseling”. “I don’t normally do that and this is a situation where I did”, Golden admits in the interview.

“He lost his job because of the video portion of the record, which showed the violence”, he said.