Couple seriously injured in Uber can’t sue due to Uber Eats order, court rules

globalnews.ca:

Uber cannot sue the tech giant because they agreed to binding arbitration in Uber’s terms of service. The couple is pushing back, claiming that their daughter, who is under 18, was the one who agreed to the terms of service while ordering on Uber Eats.Georgia and John McGinty were sitting in the rear passenger seats of an Uber when their driver ran through a red light and T-boned another vehicle on March 31, 2022.

The collision left Georgia with fractures to her neck, back and ribs and other traumatic injuries to her pelvic floor and abdominal wall, court documents show. Her husband John sustained a fractured sternum and severe fractures to his left arm and wrist.Both required numerous surgeries and invasive procedures to treat the injuries.

Georgia, a divorce lawyer, was left unable to work for more than a year and John still suffers diminished use and sensation in his left wrist.The couple sued Uber for damages for the “serious physical, psychological and financial” harm they incurred as a result of the accident, the court filing reads. Six months after the lawsuit was initiated, Uber filed a motion to dismiss the complaint and compel arbitration, outside of a court of law.“Uber maintained that when Georgia signed up for an Uber account, she agreed to Uber’s Terms of Use, including the Arbitration Agreement.

Therefore, she agreed to arbitrate any disputes with Uber arising out of her use of Uber’s services,” the filing reads.Uber claims that Georgia, whose account was used to call the ill-fated Uber, agreed to arbitration two times: in April 2021 and January 2022. Georgia allegedly clicked a checkbox on those occasions confirming her acceptance of Uber’s terms of use.In April, the terms included a line that read: “You