A federal jury in North Carolina has found Uber liable for a 2019 sexual assault by one of its drivers, marking the ride-hailing company's second consecutive loss in bellwether trials. The jury awarded plaintiff Brianna Mensing just $5,000 after she testified that her driver grabbed her upper inner thigh and asked if he could 'keep it with him' during a late-night ride when she was 23.

This verdict follows February's $8.5 million judgment in Phoenix against Uber for a rape case, creating a troubling pattern for the company as it faces more than 3,000 pending sexual misconduct lawsuits. Uber had selected this North Carolina case, believing it to be among its stronger defenses, but the jury still found the company responsible despite arguments that Mensing's claims emerged only during litigation and coincided with her drug addiction struggles.

Stanford Law School professor Nora Freeman Engstrom noted that if Uber cannot win even its chosen cases, 'that sends a powerful signal about the risks it faces going forward.' The company maintains that 99.9 percent of its U.S. trips occur without incident and plans to appeal both verdicts, arguing the awards 'should further bring these cases back to reality.'