Malden Transportation Company, Inc., et al. v. Uber Technologies, Inc. and Rasier, LLC

Analysis Group was retained by counsel for the ridesharing company Uber, the defendant in a suit brought by taxi companies operating in Boston. The companies alleged that Uber violated the state’s consumer protection law and competed unfairly in the market for ride-hailing services by knowingly violating the city’s taxi rules when it entered the market in 2013. The taxi companies sought damages under Massachusetts law for both lost leasing revenues and the lost value of taxi medallions.

An Analysis Group team led by Managing Principal Michael Beauregard, Principal Eric Nguyen, and Vice President Marissa Ginn supported affiliate Laura Stamm, who assessed the damages claimed by the plaintiffs and critiqued the damages model of the plaintiffs’ expert. Another Analysis Group team led by Managing Principal Rebecca Kirk Fair and Principal Laura O’Laughlin supported academic affiliate John Hauser, who used survey techniques to assess the sensitivity of rideshare users to prices of transportation services.

Following a bench trial, a judge in the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts dismissed the case, holding that Uber was not liable for the lost value of the plaintiffs’ taxi medallions. The court made extensive findings on damages, writing that Ms. Stamm “credibly criticized [the plaintiffs’ expert’s] medallion regression model on the grounds that it generated inaccurate price predictions at the beginning of the conduct period.” The opinion also noted that “Ms. Stamm credibly testified that the drastic change in predicted leasing revenues … renders [the plaintiffs’ expert’s] model invalid.”