Parents of UCLA grad Emily Normandin-Parker awarded $40M after daughter died when Uber driver left her on freeway
Uber has been ordered to pay $40 million to the family of a UCLA graduate who was killed when her driver abandoned her on a freeway. Judge Richard A.Stone ruled that driver Vu Tran “needlessly placed” Emily Normandin-Parker and her friend in danger when he left the pair on State Route 73 in California, according to Panish, Shea, Ravipudi, the law firm representing the family, on Thursday.“Emily did everything Uber tells riders to do—she made the responsible choice not to drive and we trusted Uber to get her home safely.
That trust cost our daughter her life,” Emily’s parents Carol Normandin and Ken Parker said.Normandin-Parker, 23, was killed in the early hours of August, 12 2023, following a night out with her pal, Luna Moore, in Costa Mesa.The pair turned to the ride-sharing app, but Moore vomited in driver Tran’s car and he ordered the pair to get out.Normandin-Parker was struck by traffic after Tran parked at a gore point that separated an exit ramp and the California State Route 73 freeway.She was hit by a car while an apoplectic Moore argued with the driver, who wanted a cleaning fee.Normandin and Parker accused Tran and Uber of negligence and were awarded $20 million each following a five-day arbitration hearing in March.Stone, a retired Los Angeles County judge who presided over the hearing, scolded Tran for showing “far more worry for his new car than he did for his passengers,” according to court documents seen by The Post.“In a fit of anger, he needlessly placed them (and himself) in danger by illegally stopping in the gore point,” Stone ruled.Tran allegedly racked up complaints from previous passengers over his “reckless” behavior, lawyers argued.
His previous riders claimed Tran “cannot drive” and that he was “the least safe” ride that one customer had experienced.Tran tried to claim he wasn’t at fault because Normandin-Parker walked into the traffic – an argument the judge rejected.Uber chiefs tried to keep the ...