I agree. This is where torts get fun in first-year law school. If Uber's training wasn't perfectly clear about the importance of the job of monitoring outside the vehicle, then part of the liability shifts to them.
Consider two training courses:
* instructors who are gung-ho on automation being "nearly there" and encouraging people to relax in the car and let the software do its work!
* instructors who are constantly impressing upon students that they need to be vigilant.
One can see how one party is 90% liable. And the other is 10% liable, etc.
The interesting part of this case comes down to the training. In that if it was lacking, it then makes it very clear to future companies that their training needs to be more rigorous.
Thank you for this comment and the insight. I have a follow up question: even after training, is there a liability burden to ensure the training is followed? I know no hiring process is perfect, so you're always going to end up with the occasional employee that disregards safety training. Knowing that, is there a burden on Uber to actively monitor the driver's attention and communicate to the driver when it is not sufficient? Even on an audit basis, but more ideally constant?
Those are great questions. I think it comes down to negligence and whether the employer makes a good faith attempt training and monitoring throughout the process. Sometimes that's difficult in new fields and then it seems like the burden falls less on the employee (the company is taking on this risk, given the chance for new rewards).
Consider two training courses:
* instructors who are gung-ho on automation being "nearly there" and encouraging people to relax in the car and let the software do its work!
* instructors who are constantly impressing upon students that they need to be vigilant.
One can see how one party is 90% liable. And the other is 10% liable, etc.
The interesting part of this case comes down to the training. In that if it was lacking, it then makes it very clear to future companies that their training needs to be more rigorous.