A black Uber Eats driver is taking legal action against the food delivery service, claiming its facial recognition software is 'racially biased'. Pa Manjang, who moved from the Gambia to the UK in 2011, alleges that the automated system repeatedly failed to recognise his selfies, leading to his permanent suspension.
Mr Manjang, who began working for Uber Eats in November 2019, was required to take daily selfies for identity verification. He claims the software wrongly concluded that his photos did not match his original ID on multiple occasions, and that he was asked to take photos 'multiple times a day'. In April 2021, he was permanently suspended for 'sharing' his account after failing Face API, a Microsoft recognition tool.
The driver argues that research shows facial recognition software 'places ethnic minority groups at a disadvantage', with higher rates of false positives and false negatives. Uber Eats, along with Uber London Ltd and Uber Portier BV, sought to have the case thrown out, but a judge at an East London employment tribunal dismissed their application, allowing the case to proceed.
Uber Eats admitted 'unfortunate shortcomings' in handling Mr Manjang's dismissal and communication, stating his account was deactivated due to 'unusual activity' suggesting multiple logins. The account was reinstated six months later in September 2021, after Mr Manjang had launched legal action. His lawyer described the treatment as 'Kafkaesque'.
The case is supported by the Equal Opportunities Commission and the App Drivers & Couriers Union. Mr Manjang's claims include race harassment and race discrimination.
