BOSTON (Legal Newsline) – Two Bostonians are suing Uber after they say a driver spit on their friend.
That show of disrespect led a brawl that included the driver hitting a woman in the ribs with an ice scraper and running down one of the plaintiffs with his car, says a lawsuit filed in Suffolk County Superior Court on Feb. 17.
Uber and driver Haile Damesse are the defendants in the case filed by Omar Sbay and Nour Sayeh.
“Defendant Uber knew or should have known that the Defendant Demesse would be a danger to passengers and lead to a risk of the very type of danger and harm that occurred on Feb. 18, 2018,” the lawsuit says.
It was after 2 a.m. on that day when Sbay, Sayeh and a group of six others requested a ride. Demesse showed up but became agitated when he saw how many passengers there were, the lawsuit says.
The two sides argued over which should officially cancel the transaction on the app, and Demesse spit on a female as she exited his vehicle, the lawsuit claims.
Things escalated into an argument on the street, during which Demesse is accused of using his ice scraper as a weapon. After, he made a U-turn onto the sidewalk and drove toward Sbay, the suit says.
Sbay says he tried to move out of the way but the car struck him in the knee. Demesse then ran into a nearby building, the suit says, and he was arrested and charged with several crimes.