From your linked article:
“Businesses also have a duty to screen independent contractors carefully. In a recent Texas case, a taxi company that employed drivers as independent contractors was found civilly liable when a driver, an ex-con with a history of violent behavior, injured a passenger. The theory of liability was that the company had a duty to the public to exercise care in the hiring of drivers.”
Not a direct comparison to this Uber case, but close.
I’m waiting for someone to sue and say, “he was muslim, you should have know he was likely to rape someone”.