Your support helps us to tell the story
A couple left with life-changing injuries have been told they cannot sue the company Uber after being involved in a crash, as they had accepted the terms and conditions pop-up when using the app.
John and Georgia McGinty, from New Jersey in the US, were riding in an Uber vehicle when it crashed in March 2022, with Mrs McGinty left in a critical care unit for a week with a spine fracture and traumatic injuries to her abdominal wall.
However, when they attempted to sue the company, state judges ruled they had clicked a “confirm” button on more than one occasion when asked if they agreed with Uber’s terms.
Speaking to the BBC, the couple said the most recent time the terms had been agreed to was when their then 12-year-old daughter had ordered a pizza on Uber Eats.
This meant that they were unable to bring their case to a jury under the seventh amendment of the US Constitution, as they had forfeited their rights.
"How would I ever remotely think that my ability to protect my constitutional rights to a trial would be waived by me ordering food?" said Mrs McGinty.
Speaking of her injuries, she said that she suffered a “horrible post-operative infection and almost died”, and was unable to look after her child. Her husband fractured his sternum and still doesn’t have full function of his left hand. “I am in pain every day,” he said.
As a result, they had accumulated a “tremendous” amount of medical debt and required further treatments, including a possible third operation for Mrs McGinty.
However, the tech firm had argued that the couple could not take the case to court, as they had agreed to the clause in their Terms of Use.
In a judgement, New Jersey’s Supreme Court said: “We hold that the arbitration provision contained in the agreement under review, which Georgia or her minor daughter, while using her cell phone agreed to, is valid and enforceable.”
Referring to her daughter’s use of Uber Eats, Mrs McGinty argued she did not know how it can be right that she is considered to have "authorised my child to waive our rights to go to a trial if we’re injured in a car accident."
"I don’t know how anybody makes that leap," she said.
The case has drawn parallels to the controversy which surrounded Disney after they attempted to avoid being sued, after they used the arbitration clause in a Disney+ membership.
Jeffrey Piccolo had filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the company after his wife died following an allergic reaction at a restaurant at Disney World Florida in 2023.
However, Disney said he had waived his right to a jury trial when signing up for a free trial of their streaming platform in 2019.
They quickly changed their stance following extensive media coverage of the lawsuit, and opted to proceed to a trial with a jury.
