Lawyers for a Franklinton felon and one-time crack addict who claimed an Uber driver briefly touched her leg seven years ago, will get a share of just $5,000 in damages awarded by a Charlotte federal court jury.
The lawyers who represented the plaintiff at trial, Sarah R. London and Andrew Kaufman of San Francisco-based Girard Sharp LLP, John T. Boundas and Sejal Brahmbhatt of Houston-based Williams Hart & Boundas LLP, William L. Smith and Alexandra M. Walsh of Los Angeles-based Anapol Weiss, and Thien An V. Truong of New York-based Simmons Hanly Conroy, were hoping for many millions, with a result more similar to an $8.5 million Arizona jury verdict in 2025.
But they would leave the Western District of North Carolina disappointed.
“The jury’s award here should further bring these cases back to reality, as it represents a tiny fraction of previous demands,” Uber said after the verdict. “That said, we believe the jury was once again incorrectly instructed on the question of liability and have strong grounds for appeal on that important point.”
The company says it will appeal the $5,000 award, and that the plaintiff in this case did not show any harm resulting from the incident.
Mensing’s credibility was challenged at trial, with Uber’s lawyers arguing her claims emerged during litigation and coincided with a period of drug addiction.
Her record in the months surrounding the alleged incident included an arrest for threats, misuse of 911, and assaulting an officer, resulting in a conviction and court-ordered treatment. In 2019, she was charged with falsifying a drug test and later pleaded guilty, receiving a short jail sentence with time served.
That same year, she lost custody of her son, then under two-years-old, amid legal and substance-related issues.
If Mensing’s law firm, Levin Simes LLP, takes the customary 33 to 40 percent of jury awards in fees, it would collect between $1,650 and $2,000, and the rest would go to Mensing, who is currently involved in a criminal case for a felony methamphetamine possession charge from 2025.
Mensing’s criminal history spans more than a decade, with repeated arrests for DUIs, drug offenses and assault, including a prison sentence and documented incidents of aggressive behavior toward authorities.
She is not allowed unsupervised visits with her now nine-year-old son while facing the pending felony methamphetamine charge.
In March of 2019, attorney Alli Brown said Mensing was 23 years old and at the height of her drug addiction. Medical records showed Mensing used crack cocaine and heroin, Brown said. She didn’t remember much else about the day before or after the ride, Brown said.
Uber’s being held liable for the actions of an independent contractor using its technology platform is based on a legal theory that it is a “common carrier,” like a taxi, railroad or bus company, that must serve all customers within a service area and cannot arbitrarily refuse service.
But Uber drivers are not employees of the company and have to accept, and can reject rides. The company’s pricing model is also dynamic and subject to supply and demand, not regulated and standardized like other “common carriers.”
