A COUPLE who was left with broken bones and steep hospital bills after an Uber crash has learned they can’t sue the company because of a pizza delivery.
Georgia and John McGinty were raced to the hospital after their Uber driver ran a red light and was T-boned by oncoming traffic on March 31, 2022.
The horrific accident left Georgia with several fractures throughout her body and internal injuries that needed surgery.
She had to get several invasive surgeries, and it took her a year to get back to her job as a matrimonial attorney.
John, meanwhile, has limited mobility in his left wrist and had to heal from a fractured sternum after the crash.
One year after the crash, John and Georgia sued the company in an effort to get a payout for their “serious physical, psychological, and financial damages,” the lawsuit states.
However, a New Jersey court ruled late last month that the McGintys had no right to sue Uber because of a terms and service agreement signed by their then-12-year-old daughter.
Georgia and John waived their right to a trial when their daughter said she was 18 while ordering a pizza from Uber Eats on her mom’s phone.
The couple said they were packing for a ski trip, and asked the little girl to make the order while they organized their belongings.
The split-second decision meant the couple agreed they couldn’t sue Uber in case they were in a car accident involving an Uber driver.
While the couple plans to appeal the court’s decision, Uber feels their case is airtight.
In a statement, the tech company claimed Georgia agreed to Uber’s terms multiple times, not just when her daughter ordered pizza while they were packing for a ski trip.
Uber also blasted the pair for allegedly saying in court that they couldn’t guarantee the girl made the order without her mother’s assistance, a spokesperson told CNN.
Other companies have benefitted from piling legal agreements in lengthy terms and conditions consumers will almost never read.
In October 2023, a woman died after eating at a Disney World restaurant and having an allergic reaction.
Her family filed a wrongful death suit, but the media company pointed out the family had waived their rights by agreeing to terms and conditions for a Disney+ subscription.
However, Disney allowed the case to go to court and did not try and get it dismissed.
The McGintys said they were “horrified” by Uber’s decision to side with “contractual language buried in a dozen-page-long user agreement concerning services unrelated to the one that caused the consumers’ injuries,” CNN reported.
Their attorney, Mike Shapiro, said siding with terms that waive rights could create a “slippery slope” for consumers.
“Uber has just been extremely underhanded in their willingness to open the same cabinets that they’re forcing the McGintys to open up and have to peek around in,” he told NPR.
“It’s unfortunate that that’s the way that they’re carrying on their business, because this is truly something that subjects millions and millions of Americans and people all over the world to a waiver of their hard-fought rights.”
But despite the setback, they aren’t standing down and want their case to fight for others who have been blindsided by terms agreements.
“I think we need as a society to move to try to protect consumers,” Georgia told NBC’s TODAY.
Uber’s statement on the lawsuit
“While the plaintiffs continue to tell the press that it was their daughter who ordered Uber Eats and accepted the terms of use, it’s worth noting that in court they could only ‘surmise’ that that was the case but could not recall whether ‘their daughter ordered food independently or if Georgia assisted,’” the spokesperson said.
