New Jersey couple blocked from suing Uber after serious car accident
A couple in New Jersey who suffered serious injuries after being involved in an accident while using Uber is being told they cannot sue the popular rideshare service.
The couple, Georgia and John McGinty, were traveling home after eating out when the driver reportedly ran a red light that led to the accident.
A New Jersey appeals court cites the Mercer County couple, both in their 50s, cannot sue because they agreed to Uber’s terms of service.
According to court documents, the couple states it was their daughter who agreed to those terms and not them.
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The couple has claimed they have no recollection of seeing the terms or the "clickbox" and can only surmise it was clicked by their daughter during an instance when the couple asked her to monitor a food order while they packed for a trip.
New Jersey Superior Court says that Georgia McGinty was still liable to the terms because she had agreed to prior versions of them.
"Georgia certified that her daughter was ‘capable,’ would frequently order food, and she and John were preoccupied with packing, which supports the inference that the daughter acted knowingly on Georgia’s behalf," the court’s opinion continues. "In summary, the Arbitration Agreement is valid and delegates the threshold question of the scope of the arbitration to the arbitrator. Therefore, Georgia’s reliance on her daughter’s minority to raise an infancy defense shall be determined by the arbitrator."
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According to a statement to NBC News from Uber, the couple agreed to the terms on three different occasions.
A statement by McGinty’s legal team to NPR said the couple "100%" wants to pursue the case further.
"Uber has just been extremely underhanded in their willingness to open the same cabinets that they're forcing the McGintys to open up and have to peek around in," Shapiro says. "It's unfortunate that that's the way that they're carrying on their business, because this is truly something that subjects millions and millions of Americans and people all over the world to a waiver of their hard-fought rights."
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This lawsuit comes months after a man tried to take action against Disney for a wrongful death suit claiming his wife died following an allergic reaction after eating in a restaurant in Disney World.
Disney reportedly fought back saying the man agreed to terms of service on his Disney+ streaming account. The case went on and Disney agreed to waive arbitration.