Ride service Uber settles wrongful death lawsuit in San Francisco

By Dan Levine

Ride service Uber has reached a tentative settlement in a lawsuit brought by the family of a 6-year-old girl who died in a San Francisco car accident, according to court filings.

The girl, Sofia Liu, died after she, her younger brother and their mother were hit by a car in a San Francisco cross-walk on New Year's Eve in 2013. At the time of the crash, the driver was logged on to the Uber X smartphone app and was available to provide rides, the lawsuit said.

Liu's family asked the court to keep terms of the settlement with Uber confidential, court filings showed, citing the privacy of her brother.

An attorney for the family could not immediately be reached for comment on Tuesday.

Uber said in a statement, "The Lius suffered a terrible tragedy and our hearts go out to them. While we cannot ease their pain, we do hope that this settlement helps the family move forward."

Uber is a well known sharing-economy company operating in 57 countries with an estimated value of more than $40 billion.

It has generated controversy and in some places opposition. Uber is involved in several legal proceedings to determine if its drivers are independent contractors or employees entitled to benefits.

That debate spilled into U.S. presidential politics this week, with Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton saying on-demand companies raise "hard questions" about workplace protection and what a good job will look like in the future.

On Tuesday, a Clinton aide said she had no problem with Uber, but rather questions about what such business models mean for workers.

The case in San Francisco Superior Court is Ang Liang Liu et al. vs. Uber Technologies et al., 14-536979.