Lawsuit Information Center
On this page, we will look at Lyft rideshare drive sexual assault lawsuits. These are civil lawsuits against Lyft by rideshare passengers who were sexually abused or assaulted by a Lyft driver. We will look at the basic allegations in these cases and their potential settlement value.
Our national sex abuse lawyers are seeking and accepting Lyft driver sex assault cases across the country. If you have been sexually assaulted by a Lyft driver contact us today at 800-553-8082 on contact us online.
Sexual Assaults by Lyft Drivers
Rideshare companies like Lyft and Uber have basically replaced taxis as the primary form of private, for-hire transportation over the last decade. Millions of people use Lyft on a regular basis.
Over the last few years, Lyft and Uber have been facing a growing wave of complaints, news stories, and civil lawsuits involving allegations that rideshare passengers were sexually assaulted by their driver. The scenario usually involves a Lyft driver taking advantage of a passenger who is heavily intoxicated and the acts sexual assault can range from unwanted touching or groping, to forcible rape and kidnapping.
Lyft receives thousands of complaints every year regarding alleged sexual assaults of passengers by Lyft drivers. According to Lyft’s own internal safety report, it receives approximately 5,000 drive sexual assault complaints annually. Most of the complaints involve inappropriate touching, but there are also plenty of much more serious incidents as well.
Allegations in Lyft Driver Sex Assault Lawsuits
A growing number of these Lyft driver sexual assault incidents have resulted in civil lawsuit naming Lyft as the defendant. These lawsuit attempt to hold Lyft liable for the sexual assault on the grounds that Lyft has been negligent in failing to conduct appropriate background checks on drivers, failing to investigate complaints about driver misconduct, and failing to properly supervise drivers, including the use of reasonable safety features like security cameras in vehicles.
The lawsuits claim that, like Uber, Lyft has been under intense pressure to hire more and more drivers in order to meet the exploding demand for rideshare transportation in recent years. To keep up with this demand, the lawsuit claim that Lyft neglected to implement proper background screening procedures for its drivers. The lack of background screening and the fast-track driver sign-up has allegedly resulted in too many sexual predators working as Lyft drivers.
Among other shortcomings, the lawsuits claim that Lyft did not do fingerprinting of potential drivers. Lyft has also been accused of negligently failing to properly train new drivers, and failing to property supervise its drivers in the field.
Another major allegation against Lyft is that is failed to take complaints about driver misconduct seriously and often did not conduct an sort of investigation into these complaints. The lawsuits claim that if Lyft had investigated complaints properly, it would have led to the termination of many drivers who later went on to sexually assault passengers.
Uber Sex Assault Class Action
Lyft’s primary competitor, Uber, has faced an even larger number of civil lawsuits attempting to hold the company liable for negligently failing to protect passengers from sexual assaults by its drivers. The Uber driver sex assault lawsuits have been consolidated into a class action MDL (Multidistrict Litigation) in the Northern District of California.
Uber driver sex assault MDL has been going on for over a year now. The MDL currently has over 1,400 individual plaintiffs with pending cases. These cases are going through a phase of consolidated discovery. Once this discovery phase is completed, a handful of cases will be selected for bellwether test trials.
The most likely scenario, however, is that the Uber driver sex assault MDL will end in a global settlement before we get to any test trials.
No Lyft Driver Sex Assault Class Action
Although a large number of civil lawsuits have been filed against Lyft regarding sexual assaults of rideshare passengers, the Lyft sex assault cases have not been consolidated into an MDL like the Uber cases.
This is partly because the number of cases against Lyft has been much smaller than against Uber. That is primarily due to the fact that Uber has a larger market share compared to Lyft. It is also related to the fact that the negligence claims against Uber are clearly based on some of the policies they adopted in screening new drivers.
Settlement Value of Lyft Driver Sex Assault Cases
Most of the Lyft driver sex assault lawsuits that have been filed across the country have been resolved by settlement. The terms and compensation payouts in these settlements have been confidential, so we don’t know how much Lyft has been paying to resolve these claims. There have been some publicly reported settlements and verdicts, but these are only a small fraction of the total number of cases.
We can make predictions about the potential settlement value of Lyft driver sex assault cases, based on various known factors.
Factors That Drive Settlement Value
Calculating settlement compensation and jury awards in Lyft driver sexual assault cases involves multiple factors, each carrying different levels of influence.
Severity of the Assault: The seriousness of the assault is a key factor. More violent or invasive assaults generally lead to higher compensation. For example, cases involving rape usually result in larger settlements than cases of harassment.
Physical Injuries: The type and extent of physical injuries affect compensation. Severe physical injuries often yield higher awards, though some significant rideshare cases involve little or no physical harm.
Emotional and Psychological Trauma: Sexual assault frequently leads to deep emotional and psychological damage. The severity and lasting impact of this trauma on the victim are essential considerations in determining compensation.
Medical and Therapy Costs: Recoverable damages often include costs for medical treatment and psychological therapy, both past and future. While these costs are not mandatory for filing a claim, they can strengthen a case.
Age and Vulnerability of the Victim: Victim characteristics, such as age or disabilities, can affect settlement amounts, particularly in cases involving minors or vulnerable individuals.
Case Strength and Evidence: The strength of evidence is critical to securing compensation. A credible plaintiff and strong evidence increase the chances of success at trial and can raise settlement values.
Settlements and Verdicts for Lyft Driver Sex Assault Cases
Here are summaries of settlements and verdicts in sexual assault cases with circumstances similar to Lyft driver assaults (and some cases actually involving Lyft drivers). These examples aim to provide insight into how similar sexual abuse lawsuits are resolved. While individual jury awards and settlement amounts offer some perspective, they have limitations as indicators of appropriate compensation. These examples are one of several tools to help assess potential settlement values for a sexual assault lawsuit against Lyft.
$400,000 Settlement (Virginia): A taxi driver drove a woman and her injured friend to a hospital. After dropping off the injured friend, the tax drier allegedly raped the woman (an unemployed actress in her early 30s).
$130,000 Verdict (Oregon): The plaintiff was riding in the front seat of a taxi. The driver started making unwanted sexual advances. He touched and groped her private areas without consent, forced her to touch his penis, then attempted to kiss her. The plaintiff fought him off and fled the vehicle.
$9,000,000 Settlement (Pennsylvania): A man used Lyft to transport an 11-year-old girl to a hotel where he sexually assaulted her. The lawsuit accused Lyft of negligence in violating its own internal policy prohibiting the transportation of minors without an adult guardian.
Contact Us About Lyft Driver Sex Assault Lawsuits
If a Lyft driver sexually assaulted you, you may be eligible to file a lawsuit and get financial compensation. Contact our sexual assault lawyers today at 800-553-8082 or contact us online for a free consultation.