Lyft
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A local woman is suing Lyft in federal court, alleging that one of the company’s drivers sexually assaulted her after a ride last year.
The lawsuit, filed on October 21, accuses the transportation company of failing to adequately address the “sexual predator crisis” within its driving workforce. It argues that Lyft’s alleged inaction in the face of thousands of sexual assaults directly contributed to the plaintiff’s assault.
“Lyft has been fully aware of the persistent and continuing assaults perpetrated by sexual predators driving for Lyft,” the lawsuit reads. “The company continues to hire drivers without conducting sufficient background checks, permits drivers accused of misconduct to remain on the platform, and, most critically, has failed to implement and enforce reasonable driver monitoring measures necessary to safeguard passengers.”
Nationwide, nearly 7,000 people reported being sexually assaulted as passengers or drivers of Lyft between 2017 and 2022, according to the company’s safety reports. This is far from the first Colorado case to make headlines.
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In March, Lyft driver John Pastor-Mendoza was sentenced to 290 years in prison for kidnapping and/or sexually assaulting twelve women, targeting intoxicated passengers seeking rides home in Denver. In January, State Representative Jenny Willford said she was sexually assaulted by her Lyft driver outside of her Adams County home. In 2024, Lyft driver Shengfu Wu was sentenced to nine years in prison for raping a thirteen-year-old passenger in Aurora.
The trend is not limited to Lyft. There were over 12,500 reported sexual assault incidents involving Uber passengers and drivers between 2017 and 2022 in the United States, according to the company’s safety reports.
Willford’s assault inspired her to sponsor a bill intended to improve safety in rideshares, in part requiring more frequent background checks and cracking down on authorized account sharing by drivers. The bill, HB25-1291, passed the legislature but was vetoed by Governor Jared Polis in May after Uber threatened to cease operations in Colorado over the policy. Lyft also opposed the bill.
“Lyft publicly represents that ‘safety is our top priority’ and that its goal is ‘to make every ride safe, comfortable, and reliable.’ In reality, Lyft prioritizes profits over passenger safety,” the lawsuit reads.
Lyft did not respond to a request for comment regarding the lawsuit.
The plaintiff, who is anonymous in the lawsuit, claims her assault occurred in July 2024 outside of her home in Colorado. She reportedly ordered a Lyft home and made friendly conversation with the driver, offering him some tomatillo plant starts from her front yard when they arrived at her destination.
After exiting the vehicle to get the plants, the driver allegedly kissed the plaintiff on the mouth, according to the lawsuit. She pulled away, but says the man proceeded to pull down the front of her dress and rip off her sticky pad bra, exposing her breast. He then allegedly put his hands up her dress, groping her vagina and attempting to remove her undergarment, while continuing to try to kiss her.
The plaintiff ultimately pushed the man off with such force that part of her thumbnail broke off, the lawsuit states. She then retreated inside her home to safety.
“Plaintiff has developed extreme anxiety and feelings of being unsafe, particularly at night, due to the fact that the driver is aware of Plaintiff’s home address,” the lawsuit reads. “Lyft directly contributed to the assault on Plaintiff by breaching and abandoning its highest duty of care owed to its passengers.”
The lawsuit criticizes Lyft’s safety practices, citing its lack of requirements for fingerprint-based background checks and video surveillance of rides. The original draft of Colorado’s failed HB25-1291 included mandates for both of those safety measures, though they were later removed due to pushback from rideshare companies.
The lawsuit is seeking an unspecified amount of monetary relief over $75,000 for damages to the plaintiff, court costs and punitive damages against Lyft.
