A California judge has ordered Uber to pay $40 million to the family of a 23-year-old woman who was killed after a driver abandoned her on a highway.Emily Normandin-Parker had taken an Uber ride on 12 August 2023 with a friend, who later became ill and vomited in the vehicle. According to court filings, the driver pulled over on a California highway, ordered the two women out of the car while they were intoxicated, and left them on the roadside. Moments later, Normandin-Parker was struck and killed by another vehicle. Her parents filed a claim alleging that Uber bore responsibility for the driver’s actions, arguing that their daughter had followed the company’s guidance by choosing a rideshare instead of driving herself. The family’s attorneys presented the case through a five-day arbitration process, which concluded with a ruling in their favor. The arbitrator found that the driver, Vu Tran, acted with gross negligence, prioritizing a call to Uber about a potential cleaning fee over seeking help for the women. Judge Richard Stone, who oversaw the arbitration, stated that Tran could have safely dropped the passengers off at a well-lit, populated area but instead left them in a hazardous location. Uber had previously proposed a settlement of $10 million contingent on the family’s silence, a proposal the parents rejected. The company has maintained that it views drivers as independent contractors and has emphasized its ongoing efforts to improve safety protocols, including guidance on avoiding unsafe drop-off zones. The ruling marks one of the largest financial penalties imposed on Uber in a U.S. arbitration case involving a traffic fatality.