An arbitrator has ordered Uber to pay $40 million to the parents of a 23-year-old UCLA graduate who was struck and killed on a Southern California freeway after her Uber driver abandoned her there in the early morning hours.
Judge Richard A. Stone, a retired Los Angeles County judge who presided over a five-day arbitration hearing in March, ruled that driver Vu Tran “needlessly placed” Emily Normandin-Parker and her friend Luna Moore in danger by putting them out of his car on State Route 73 in Costa Mesa on August 12, 2023. The ruling was announced Thursday by Panish, Shea, Ravipudi, the law firm representing Normandin-Parker’s parents, Carol Normandin and Ken Parker.
According to the firm, the two women had called an Uber after a night out. Moore vomited in Tran’s car, and Tran ordered them out of the vehicle after stopping at a gore point — the paved triangle separating an exit ramp from the freeway itself. While Moore argued with Tran over a cleaning fee, Normandin-Parker was struck by oncoming traffic and killed.
Stone’s ruling was blunt about where he placed the blame. Tran, he wrote, showed “far more worry for his new car than he did for his passengers,” adding: “In a fit of anger, he needlessly placed them (and himself) in danger by illegally stopping in the gore point.”
Lawyers for the family said Tran had a history of rider complaints alleging reckless driving, with one previous passenger describing him as “the least safe” ride they had ever taken. Tran argued at the hearing that he bore no responsibility because Normandin-Parker walked into traffic herself — an argument Stone rejected.
Normandin and Parker were each awarded $20 million. Moore, who survived the incident, was separately awarded $300,000.
Uber Sought to Keep the Verdict Quiet
The family says Uber moved swiftly to keep the arbitration outcome out of public view. Parker told Good Morning America Thursday that the company sent the family an agreement demanding non-disparagement and threatening a $10 million penalty if they spoke publicly against Uber.
“We didn’t have much time to absorb the award before Uber almost immediately started contending that it could not be made public and then sent an agreement to us requiring non-disparagement, the $10 million penalty for saying anything bad about Uber,” Parker said.
An Uber spokesperson said the company’s “thoughts continue to be with the Normandin-Parker family,” but disputed the arbitrator’s finding. “While we respect the arbitration process, we believe the arbitrator was wrong in holding Uber legally responsible for the tragic events of that night,” the spokesperson said, adding that Uber has “continued to strengthen our approach to safety over the years,” including guidance to drivers about avoiding drop-offs in unsafe locations.
Normandin said she “absolutely” believes Uber prioritized profit over her daughter’s safety, and the family says neither Tran nor the company has taken responsibility.
“The reason we’re talking is because he [Tran] didn’t take responsibility and neither did Uber. They’re still not taking responsibility. We do not want this to ever happen to another mother or father.”
Normandin-Parker, a Laguna Beach native, had graduated from UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television with a major in theater. Her family described her in an obituary as “anything but ordinary” — “beautiful, empathetic, brave, smart, interesting, hilarious and extraordinary,” a talented writer with a love of the arts, music, the outdoors and time spent with family.
Her parents have since started the Emily Normandin-Parker Foundation, which advocates for stronger rideshare safety standards.
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