Uber has been ordered to pay $40m (£29m) to the family of a 23-year-old woman who was fatally struck on a California highway after the rideshare company’s driver allegedly pulled over and ordered her out of the car.

Emily Normandin-Parker had booked an Uber for home with a friend on 12 August 2023, before her friend became sick and vomited in the car, court documents show.

Her parents said the driver pulled over to the side of the highway and forced the women, who were intoxicated, out of the car, after which Normandin-Parker was hit and killed by another vehicle.

Uber had argued that the driver was an independent contractor, and the company was not responsible for his actions.

“Emily did everything Uber tells riders to do – she made the responsible choice not to drive and we trusted Uber to get her home safely,” her parents said in a statement about their daughter, a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles. “That trust cost our daughter her life.”

Judge Richard Stone ordered the rideshare company to pay the money to Normandin-Parker’s parents after a five-day arbitration process, according to the law firm Panish, Shea, Ravipudi, which represented the family.

Arbitration is an alternative way to resolve disputes outside of court with a qualified arbitrator, in this case a retired judge.

Lawyers representing the family said that after leaving the women on the highway, the driver, Vu Tran, did not call for help for them. He instead pulled off to call Uber and demand they charge Normandin-Parker a cleaning fee, the lawyers said.

Tran showed “far more worry for his new car than he did for his passengers”, Judge Stone said, adding that he could have taken the exit and dropped the women off at a safe location.

Uber said it believed the arbitrator was wrong in holding the company legally responsible for the event.

“We have continued to strengthen our approach to safety over the years, through new technology, policies and safeguards informed by safety experts, including additional guidance to drivers about avoiding drop-offs in unsafe locations,” the company said in a statement.

The law firm representing the family said Uber had initially proposed a settlement that would give the parents $10m and require them not to speak about the incident, which they declined.