GoKawiilEmily Normandin-Parker, 23, was struck and killed on a California freeway after Uber driver Vu Tran left her & a friend at a triangular gore point beside an off-ramp following an argument over a cleaning fee, an arbitrator found.[1][2] Retired judge Richard A. Stone, the arbitrator, ordered Uber & Tran to pay her parents $40 million, $20 million to each, in a July 2026 award.[1][2][3] In a statement to ABC News, Uber said the arbitrator was wrong in holding Uber legally responsible for the tragic events of that night.[1]
Emily Normandin-Parker's death on State Route 73 [ edit | edit source ]
Normandin-Parker, a 2022 graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles,[1][4] was riding home in an Uber with her friend Luna Moore after a night out on August 12, 2023, when Moore became sick & vomited in the car.[1][5] Tran pulled over on State Route 73 in Orange County at a gore point, according to the award.[2][1] The award states that Normandin-Parker wandered into traffic in an inebriated state & was struck and killed after Tran pulled into the gore point and argued with Moore.[3][2]
Stone described the gore point as an unsafe and illegal area,[1] citing Vehicle Code section 21718, and wrote that Tran himself admitted this at the hearing.[2] He found that Tran could have taken the nearby MacArthur Boulevard exit & stopped in a safe location.[2][1] Stone also wrote that Tran knew both women were intoxicated & had argued with Moore over a cleaning fee before leaving them at the gore point.[2][1] According to the award, GPS data showed, notwithstanding the modest margin of error of several meters, that Tran drove near Normandin-Parker's body as he left & then pulled off at the next exit to call Uber about recovering the cleaning fee.[2][1]
Stone called Tran's testimony on the critical matters largely, in fact, almost entirely, incredible and unbelievable and found that Tran showed far more worry for his new car than he did for his passengers.[2][1][4] He also wrote that he could not confidently determine everything that happened in those moments because no one presented entirely credible testimony.[2][3]
On page 6 of the award the arbitrator writes that Tran showed no concern for Normandin-Parker's whereabouts despite knowing she had exited the vehicle and was intoxicated. [ 2 ]
California voters approved Proposition 22 in 2020.[1] The measure added section 7451 to the Business and Professions Code on November 3, 2020.[6] Section 7451 provides 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 the following conditions are met ...
[6]
Uber, DoorDash, Lyft & Instacart were among the companies that spent more than $200 million on the ballot initiative, CalMatters reported.[3]
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