Thursday, April 2, 2026

Uber Assault MDL Sees Coordinated California Filing Surge As Sexual Violence Claims Accelerate

The Uber Technologies Inc. Sexual Assault Litigation (MDL 3084) (N.D. Cal., Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley) absorbed 32 new filings in the past week — a concentrated burst that places it among the most active non-pharmaceutical MDLs and signals renewed momentum in sexual violence claims against the ride-hailing platform. All 32 complaints landed in the Northern District of California, including C.G. v. Uber Technologies, Inc. (3:26-cv-02818) and Jane Doe LS 692 v. Uber Technologies, Inc. (3:26-cv-02819), suggesting coordinated counsel activity ahead of potential bellwether selection. The filing velocity contrasts sharply with the Depo-Provera Products Liability Litigation (MDL 3140)'s pharmaceutical dominance, illustrating how distinct tort categories are driving parallel docket growth. Uber faces roughly 3,000 pending federal actions as discovery into the company's safety reporting protocols continues under Judge Corley's supervision.

The Zantac Ranitidine Products Liability Litigation (MDL 2924) (S.D. Fla., Judge Robin L. Rosenberg) recorded two new federal filings this week — Cobaugh v. Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals and Gardner v. Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals — modest activity in a litigation dramatically reshaped by GSK’s October 2024 settlement of approximately 80,000 state court cases for up to $2.2 billion. The federal MDL carries roughly 2,000 active cases after 50,000+ claims were dismissed in 2022 when Judge Rosenberg excluded plaintiffs’ expert testimony on NDMA degradation; the Delaware Supreme Court issued a parallel exclusion ruling in July 2025. With GSK largely resolved, Boehringer Ingelheim remains the primary federal defendant — its Connecticut bellwether trials are not scheduled until March 2028 — while an Eleventh Circuit appeal of the 2022 federal dismissal had oral arguments in October 2025. New filings continue at a diminished pace as plaintiffs test whether remaining cases can survive the expert-exclusion framework that effectively ended the mass wave of ranitidine cancer claims.

The Baby Food Products Liability Litigation (MDL 3101) (M.D. Fla., Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington), centralized in April 2024, registered a new filing with D.R. v. Beech-Nut Nutrition Company (8:26-cv-00893) as the House Energy and Commerce Committee continues pressure on FDA to finalize proposed lead limits in processed baby foods. Judge Covington is still developing case management protocols as an estimated 50,000+ state court claims await federal coordination. The MDL’s trajectory will test whether congressional attention and emerging epidemiological data on heavy metals exposure can overcome the significant causation hurdles that have stalled similar toxic-exposure litigations.