Solving Uber's Illegal Sex Discrimination Problem

WASHINGTON - Nov. 10, 2025 - PRLog -- Uber (and also Lyft) has been hit with a class action lawsuit, seeking $4,000 in damages for each male driver in California, because it permits female passengers to specify that the driver be female (but not male), notes public interest law professor John Banzhaf, who has been called "a King of Class Action Lawsuits" and "a Driving Force Behind the Lawsuits That Have Cost Tobacco Companies Billions of Dollars."

The lawsuit alleges that because of Uber's Women Preferences policy, (https://www.uber.com/newsroom/women-preferences/) its male drivers "are discriminated against and receive fewer and different rides than they otherwise would absent the policy," and that the policy "reinforces the gender stereotype that men are more dangerous than women."

While there are strong arguments supporting the policy (as well as against it), a legal analysis demonstrated that it clearly constitutes illegal sex discrimination under California's powerful and far reaching Unruh Civil Rights Act. . .

Uber's new policy also even more clearly constitutes illegal sex discrimination under the D.C Human Rights Act, says Banzhaf, who has won over 100 sex discrimination cases under that statute.   That's because it eliminates all defense arguments that the discrimination is logical, reasonable, or even required to protect female passengers.

Fortunately for Uber (and Lyft) and for the judge hearing the case, there is a simple and legal way of achieving Uber's purpose of permitting female passengers to reduce the risk of sexually unwanted comments, sexual harassment, and even sexual assaults by selecting only female drivers, says Banzhaf.  Here's how.

Once a passenger enters her desired destination on a cell phone, the Uber app displays a number of possible rides with the accompanying arrival time and cost of the trip (which can depend on the type of car).

If it also showed the first name of the driver of each car displayed, this one simple change would permit riders to consider (if they wished) the sex of the driver, along with the other factors in deciding which ride offer to accept.

It is not illegal for individual passengers (unlike companies) to select rides and drivers based in whole or in part upon factors such as sex.

Moreover, it would not be illegal for the app to display the first name of the driver since this would help assure the passenger that any car which arrives to pick her up is in fact the one selected.. . .

For drivers whose first names might not clearly indicate their sex - e.g. common American names such as Chris, Glen, Robin, etc, or unfamiliar names from foreign countries - Uber could permit those drivers to operate with a nickname which more clearly indicates their sex. . . .

jbanzhaf3ATgmail.com   @profbanzhaf