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Lyft has been hit with a class action lawsuit by 14 anonymous women who claim that the ride-hailing company is not doing enough to stem the tide of sexual assaults by their drivers.
The plaintiffs say that Lyft has been aware of the issue since 2015 and has not addressed the problem as Lyft drivers continue to assault passengers in what they refer to as a “sexual predator crisis.”
“Complaints to Lyft by female customers who have been attacked by Lyft drivers, combined with subsequent criminal investigations by law enforcement, clearly establish that Lyft has been fully aware of these continuing attacks by sexual predators driving for Lyft,” the Lyft class action lawsuit alleges.
One plaintiff, Jane Roe 1, claims that she used the Lyft app to hail a driver to pick her up after a Halloween party. After getting into the car, the doors locked and the driver reportedly turned around and said, “I love you.”
After turning off the Lyft app, he took her phone, then drove to a beach, and raped the passenger. After five hours of pleading with the driver, the assailant finally let her go.
Roe 1 claims that the driver continued to drive for Lyft, even after the police reported the incident to the company.
The Lyft class action states that Lyft has not responded acceptably to the complaints filed by their customers and they continue to not perform background checks on drivers.
In addition, the Lyft class action lawsuit claims that the company allows drivers to continue employment, even though complaints have been lodged against them.
The plaintiffs also allege that Lyft has not adopted any driver monitoring procedures which is designed to protect the passenger’s safety.
“As a consequence, Lyft passengers continue to be victims of sexual assaults and rapes by Lyft drivers,” the Lyft class action lawsuit states.
The plaintiffs claim that there have been worse sexual assaults perpetrated against other Lyft customers where victims have been attacked by Lyft drivers.
The Lyft class action lawsuit alleges that profits are Lyft’s priority and that the company could vastly increase safety if they made a few changes to their app. However, the plaintiffs says the company refuses to make any changes and as a result, passengers continue to be assaulted by malicious drivers.
“Instead of taking a few basic and simple measures to prevent rapes and sexual assault of their passengers, Lyft has chosen to hide and conceal from the United States public the staggering number of reported rapes and sexual assaults that occur within their vehicles,” the Lyft class action lawsuit claims.
The plaintiffs say that Lyft has made efforts in the media, in litigation, and in criminal cases to hide the actual number of assaults that are perpetrated by their drivers.
The Lyft class action lawsuit alleges that there are about 100 reports of sexual assaults by Lyft drivers over a one-year period in one state. The plaintiffs note that this information is from prior to March 2016 when Lyft was a smaller company with fewer drivers.
The plaintiffs state that, “Since sexual assault/rape is the most under-reported crime, the actual number of sexual assaults of passengers by drivers is about three times this number.”
Do you think Lyft is doing enough to protect its passengers against sexual assault? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
The Lyft sexual assault victims are represented by Stephen J. Estey, R. Michael Bomberger and Mary Bajo of Estey & Bomberger LLP and C. Brooks Cutter and Celine E. Cutter of Cutter Law PC.
The Lyft Class Action lawsuit is Jane Roe, et al. v. Lyft Inc., et al., Case No. CGC-19-578975, in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of San Francisco.
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7 thoughts onLyft Class Action Alleges ‘Sexual Predator Crisis’
Add me ol
There is a registered sex offender in my neighborhood in Orlando area with a LYFT sticker in car window, indicating that he is a driver.
Got to be the most frivolous lawsuit ever filed other than just antidotal assaults which happened in the world because there’s people living there, there’s nothing else that happens because of it being drivers. the only thing different about Lyft and Uber that changed was they used to hire more Americans now it’s all third world drivers and they might have a little different attitudes then the Western civilized guys that were driving , you could get on Lyft and Uber case for that. other than that this never happens. I have a thousand people I’ve talked to in these vehicles and all I’ve ever seen so far is gay passengers making moves on drivers girls taking their clothes off girls jumping in the front seat saying they’re not getting out of the car without getting a kiss. girls and guys asking where they can get drugs. girls passing out in the vehicle with no responsibility for themselves. and guys offering drugs to drivers and guys lying that they left something in the car so they can get the drivers number to ask him out because they’re gay and then they know that they’ll get away with it. And I imagine some straight guys do this for female drivers also. This is just another opportune moment for women to get something for nothing and get cash and prizes because of their gender and do allege that they’re the ones that get assaulted and that crazy, that is the most under-reported crime when actually restraining orders in the salts are the crime that have been proven to have the most false accusations of any misdemeanor or felony in United States is just par for the course with this lawsuit and then the writer of the article says so we know it happens three times more than its reported know we don’t if we have a certain amount reported we don’t even know those are true and you don’t have the right to just jump in and say so it must be three times more of course that’s the logic you carry with you the same logic that allows you to think the drivers are making moves on you when you are listening responses and actions are getting. We could write three more pages on how many girls in the car say sexual things to the drivers ask them how they look and one driver says I can’t comment, and next driver wants to get a tip and says you look great, one girl likes a comment, the next girl calls it sexual harassment,!
it’s just typical for the way women are playing both sides now as they continue watching Ellen on TV and every other talk show that tells that there’s a boogieman and they need to fight
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Please add me.
Yes they need to do something…i know of a guy who drives for them and he was arrested for the same thing…he’s from Turlock California…i would never use any of thee companys..after hearing about this going on.
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