Uber Terminates Driver for Sexual Come-On to Female Passenger

Uber, the San Francisco-based ride service known for its monstrous valuation, its myriad regulatory battles and its recurring trouble with driver behavior, has ended its relationship with a New Jersey man who climbed into the back seat with a woman passenger and fondled himself.

The episode made the rounds Tuesday via a video posted on Facebook and elsewhere. Beware -- it's creepy, gross and graphic.

Here's how NJ.com summarizes the incident, which reportedly took place after a trip from the Jersey shore town of Sea Isle City to nearby Avalon:

The video shows a middle-aged man rubbing his crotch over his pants as he tells the woman in a heavy accent, "I love your body. My god, I love your body. Your body is beautiful."

The woman says to him, in slurred speech, "I don't, I don't," though it's not clear from the video what she means.

The man then tells her, "No, you do, you do. Why you say you don't? You do."

"What do you want me to do?" he says to her.

"I don't know," she says. "(Inaudible) buggin' me out."

The man then gets out of the car as he tells her, "Have a good night. Call me, alright?"

Uber's reaction?

In an emailed statement, company spokesman Taylor Bennett said, "The driver has been permanently removed from the Uber platform for his inappropriate behavior, and we have reached out to the rider to apologize for such an uncomfortable experience."

Uber says the driver was partnered with the company through its Uber Black platform. He was commercially licensed through the Philadelphia Parking Authority, which does a background check. Uber said it also did its own background check.

Unknown is how the incident will affect the New Jersey Legislature's consideration of a bill that would impose new regulations on the ride-service industry, including state-mandated background checks.

Uber and its drivers have staged a campaign to derail the legislation, much as they did a California bill that sought to impose new insurance requirements on ride services. That measure eventually passed and was signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown in September.

Uber has been forced to deal with allegations of assaults and harassment by drivers -- and complaints that its background checks are inadequate -- in cities from San Francisco to New Delhi, India.

Prosecutors in Los Angeles and San Francisco sued Uber last December, saying the company is guilty of misleading consumers about the thoroughness of its background checks. San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón called the company's system "completely worthless."