Emily Normandin-Parker, 23, was struck and killed on a California freeway after Uber driver Vu Tran left her and a friend at a triangular gore point beside an off-ramp following an argument over a cleaning fee, an arbitrator found. Retired judge Richard A. Stone, the arbitrator, ordered Uber and Tran to pay her parents $40 million, with $20 million awarded to each, in a July 2026 ruling. In a statement to ABC News, Uber stated that the arbitrator was incorrect in holding the company legally responsible for the events of that night.
Normandin-Parker, a 2022 graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles, was riding home in an Uber with her friend Luna Moore after a night out on August 12, 2023, when Moore became sick and vomited in the car. Tran pulled over on State Route 73 in Orange County at a gore point, according to the award. The award states that Normandin-Parker wandered into traffic while inebriated and was struck and killed after Tran pulled into the gore point and argued with Moore.
Stone described the gore point as an unsafe and illegal area, citing Vehicle Code section 21718, and noted that Tran admitted this during the hearing. He found that Tran could have taken the nearby MacArthur Boulevard exit and stopped in a safe location. Stone also wrote that Tran knew both women were intoxicated and had argued with Moore over a cleaning fee before leaving them at the gore point. According to the award, GPS data indicated that Tran drove near Normandin-Parker's body as he left and then pulled off at the next exit to call Uber about recovering the cleaning fee.
Stone characterized Tran's testimony on critical matters as largely incredible and unbelievable, stating that Tran showed more concern for his vehicle than for his passengers. He also noted that he could not confidently determine everything that happened during those moments due to the lack of credible testimony.
California voters approved Proposition 22 in 2020, which added section 7451 to the Business and Professions Code. This section states that an app-based driver is an independent contractor and not an employee or agent with respect to the app-based driver's relationship with a network company if certain conditions are met. Uber, DoorDash, Lyft, and Instacart were among the companies that spent over $200 million on the ballot initiative.
Moore filed a complaint in Orange County Superior Court on September 25, 2023, listing Tran and Uber Technologies, Inc. as defendants. Uber filed a stipulation to arbitrate and stay the action on January 25, 2024, with the court entering an order on January 31, 2024. On August 10, 2026, Uber filed a motion to enforce the stipulation and an ex parte application in Moore's court case, and that same day, Uber and Tran filed a notice of withdrawal of a motion. The court has scheduled an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) review hearing for October 1, 2026, with a motion scheduled for February 18, 2027, in Department C34 at the Central Justice Center.
Normandin-Parker's parents, Carol Normandin and Ken Parker, were claimants in the arbitration alongside Moore, with Uber and Tran as respondents. The parents' claims against Uber included negligence and negligent training, retention, and supervision. Lawyers for the parents at Panish Shea Ravipudi stated that evidence presented during the arbitration showed Uber had received previous complaints about Tran's driving.
During the five-day hearing, held from March 23 to 29, 2026, Uber argued that Tran was an independent contractor under California law and that the company should not be held accountable for his actions. Stone quoted Uber's closing brief, which described the company as a technology company that provides a software platform connecting riders with independent third-party drivers.
CalMatters reported that in a filing, Uber argued that the incident was the result of Moore and Normandin-Parker's extreme intoxication due to their intentional conduct, not Tran's driving. Uber also stated in a filing that Tran had a valid driver's license and passed its background check, asserting that it had no duty to train him beyond that because he was an independent contractor. Tran argued that he responded reasonably to a perceived sudden emergency caused by the passengers' prior excessive drinking, which he claimed he was unaware of, and that he could not anticipate Normandin-Parker leaving his vehicle and wandering into traffic.
Stone found Uber vicariously liable for Tran's negligence as a common carrier, which he stated carries a non-delegable safety duty. He noted that it is beyond reasonable dispute that Uber is an app-based transportation company providing services to the general public for standardized fees. He rejected Uber's argument that it is merely a technology company. Stone did not decide on the claimants' other negligence theories against Uber, stating that doing so would not change the damages.
The award cites California Civil Code section 2168, which states that anyone who offers to the public to carry persons, property, or messages is a common carrier of whatever they offer to carry. In a ruling on Uber's motions for summary judgment on March 8, 2026, Stone rejected Uber's Proposition 22 argument, stating that voters who passed Proposition 22 in 2020 could not have intended to eliminate Uber's liability for its drivers' actions. His July 2026 award states that Proposition 22 does not immunize Uber from vicarious liability. Stone also stated that Proposition 51, which generally limits each defendant's liability for noneconomic damages to their own proportionate share of fault, does not apply to reduce or eliminate a common carrier's vicarious liability for its driver's negligence.
Normandin and Parker were each awarded $20 million, with Stone finding Uber and Tran jointly and severally liable. He found Tran liable to Moore for intentional infliction of emotional distress and held Uber jointly and severally liable with Tran on that claim, awarding Moore $300,000. Stone determined that Normandin-Parker did not endure pre-death pain and suffering and wrote that the issue of punitive damages was therefore moot; he awarded none.
Stone expressed concern regarding how Uber approaches rider safety, including driver training and the handling of customer complaints. He expressed hope that Uber would learn from this incident and change its policies and procedures, adding that failure to do so would engage the company in substantial risk.
An Uber spokesperson stated that Tran, who can no longer drive for Uber, had completed thousands of trips without unsafe drop-offs, freeway stops, or rider injury. Uber stated in a statement quoted by BBC News that it has continued to strengthen its approach to safety over the years through new technology, policies, and safeguards informed by safety experts, including additional guidance to drivers about avoiding drop-offs in unsafe locations.
Panish Shea Ravipudi, the law firm representing the parents, stated that the settlement agreement proposed by Uber would have prevented them from making truthful statements about the company's connection to Normandin-Parker's death, with a $10 million liquidated damages penalty for each violation. CBS News Los Angeles quoted Parker as saying they turned it down because they would never accept such conditions. The Guardian reported that Uber ultimately did not pursue confidentiality in this case.
Normandin-Parker's family established the Emily Normandin-Parker Foundation to honor her memory and advocate for stronger rideshare safety protections, intending to use proceeds from the case to fund the foundation.
Uber's U.S. Terms of Use, last modified August 12, 2026, includes a warning stating that users waive their right to seek relief in a court of law and their right to a jury trial on claims. The agreement also binds third parties and outlines the arbitration process for disputes arising in California.