Uber requires nondisclosure agreement before helping carjacked driver
“I would be signing all my rights away,” he said. “I would have no recourse.”
“Silencing Victims”
On the early February morning when Morrow was carjacked, the Uber app matched him with a passenger named “Rico,” according to anincident reportfrom the Atlanta Police Department. Morrow picked up two men and drove them to their destination, an apartment complex. After the men told him to drive to the rear of the building, he saw one was holding a black assault rifle, and the other then put a handgun to the back of Morrow’s head and said, “Give it up.”
The men took off with not only Morrow’s 2021 Honda Accord but also with his $900 Samsung smartphone and $800 prescription sunglasses. They had his house keys too, which cost around $25 to replace. He had insurance to cover the car but had to pay the $1,000 deductible. And because he didn’t have a car after the incident, he wasn’t able to work for at least a week. According to the police, no one has been charged in his case.
The Markup reached out to Uber two weeks ago for comment on Morrow’s carjacking and the company’s lack of assistance in the aftermath. At the time, Uber’s Page didn’t respond to questions about Morrow but said, generally speaking, “We have worked to provide drivers who are facing hardship due to these types of incidents with support.”
Hours after we published our report, Page reached out to The Markup in an email, saying, “I’ve since learned that we’ve worked with David Morrow to offer support.” When asked what type of support was offered, she responded, “Information on support to individual drivers is private and not our place to share.”
The Markup later learned that Uber approached Morrow with the offer of $1,000 in exchange for signing a nondisclosure agreement only after we contacted the company about his case.
Uber’s Page did not respond to questions about the NDA sent to Morrow or when it was sent.
Attorneys say companies primarily use such agreements to keep people quiet and to stave off legal liability.
“There’s a possibility that someone brings a class-action lawsuit for any driver who’s been carjacked or assaulted by an individual, who they were connected with by Uber,” said Bryant Greening, an attorney and co-founder of Chicago-based LegalRideshare, who reviewed the agreement for The Markup. If he had signed the agreement, “David would not be able to participate in that class-action lawsuit.”
The agreement would also prevent Morrow from discussing the settlement, including the $1,000 payment or details of the carjacking as they relate to Uber. He’d be limited to the phrase, “The matter was resolved.”
The final requirement in the agreement is a nondisparagement provision, which Greening said is a catch-all obligation that doesn’t relate specifically to the carjacking. With the nondisparagement provision, Morrow would have to agree to not take public action or make statements that criticize Uber. If he breached this agreement, Greening said, Uber could theoretically sue him or seek repayment of the money given him.
“It’s important that the public sees documents like this. A lot of times, as a community, we don’t understand how big corporations operate and maintain their positive image,” Greening said. “The way companies try to silence victims is shocking.”
When asked about offering drivers NDAs with confidentiality and nondisparagement clauses, Uber’s Page said that “nothing prevents individuals from talking about the facts of their experiences or the specific incident.”
As for Morrow, on top of the financial blow from the carjacking, he said he still feels anxious. He’s afraid to pick up passengers, so now he only accepts rides at the airport, which feels safer. But declining other rides has consequences: Morrow is a long-time, highly rated driver who’s earned “Diamond Status,” but to keep that status he must maintain a certain acceptance rate for rides or lose perks like getting preference at the airport.
Morrow said he got matched for a ride with someone just outside the airport last week. “I picked him up and took him where he wanted to go,” Morrow said. But as he was driving with the man in the back seat, “I had a flashback,” he said. “It’s still affecting me.”
DoorDash didn’t respond to a request for comment.
This article by Dara Kerr wasoriginally published on The Markupand was republished under theCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivativeslicense.
Story byThe Markup
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