Motion Filed to Consolidate Lyft Sexual Assault Lawsuits into MDL in Federal Court
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The growing number of lawsuits claiming that Lyft failed to protect passengers from sexual assaults by drivers may soon be grouped together in federal court.
A motion was filed last week requesting that 17 Lyft lawsuits pending throughout the federal court system be consolidated into multidistrict litigation (MDL).
MDLs are used when many similar lawsuits are expected to be filed, helping to streamline the legal process for those cases and prevent duplicative efforts by placing them all before one judge.
An MDL had previously been established for rideshare sexual assault lawsuits involving Uber, with more than 2,700 of those cases now grouped together in federal court. The Lyft petition suggested that Lyft lawsuits be placed before the same judge who is handling the Uber cases.
‘Hundreds or Thousands’ of Lyft Sexual Assault Lawsuits Could Be Filed
One of the main arguments the petition makes for the creation of an MDL is the possibility that many more Lyft sexual assault lawsuits could soon be filed.
“It is likely that hundreds or thousands of additional actions will continue to be filed in federal courts throughout the United States,” the petition stated, noting that Lyft identified more than 18,000 instances of assault and harassment in a single year.
That’s more than had been reported by Uber, which is now the subject of thousands of similar lawsuits.
Some Lyft sexual assault lawsuits have already been grouped together in California state court, with more than 100 active lawsuits there.
Lawsuits Claim Lyft Failed to Protect Customers From Driver Assaults
Women are filing lawsuits over claims that they were sexually assaulted while using Lyft and that the company didn’t do enough to protect them.
“Lyft corporate management has failed to implement the most obvious and straightforward safety procedures to address the growing problem of sexual assault by those Lyft drivers who are sexual predators,” one lawsuit filed for an anonymous plaintiff states.
Lawsuits argue that Lyft drivers go through no legitimate screening process and that the company has failed to use technology such as GPS tracking or in-car cameras to protect passengers.
Lawyers continue to investigate new claims as this litigation grows.
