Federal Lyft Lawsuit Filed By Female Georgia Passenger

A Georgia woman has filed a new lawsuit against Lyft after alleging she was sexually assaulted by her driver during a ride requested through the app. The complaint, filed January 14 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleges the incident occurred in September 2025 and claims Lyft should be held responsible for failing to provide reasonable safety protections for passengers, legal journalist Irvin Jackson reported.

The allegations mirror those raised in nearly 20 other lawsuits filed by former Lyft passengers. Across these cases, plaintiffs contend they were sexually assaulted after using the service, and that Lyft failed to take basic steps to reduce predictable risks. The complaints describe conduct ranging from harassment and groping to abduction and rape, with many plaintiffs alleging they were targeted because the rideshare setting places them alone in a vehicle with a driver who has immediate physical access to them.

The lawsuits also compare Lyft’s safety practices to those criticized in the much larger Uber litigation. Roughly 3,000 Uber sexual assault lawsuits have been filed in federal courts nationwide. Plaintiffs in rideshare cases commonly allege that companies relied on minimal background checks, failed to implement meaningful safety features, did not require adequate training on sexual harassment and assault awareness, did not install surveillance cameras in vehicles, and did not allow riders to choose the gender of their driver.

In this new Lyft sexual abuse lawsuit, the complaint alleges the anonymous plaintiff ordered a Lyft on September 8, 2025 to travel to a friend’s home. After she entered the back seat, she accidentally knocked over her purse, spilling items across the floor and beneath the seat. She says she turned on the interior light to find her belongings. According to the lawsuit, the driver pulled over, said he could not drive safely with the light on, parked, and exited the vehicle.

The complaint alleges the driver then opened the rear door and groped her while she was bent over retrieving her items. The filing states, “Plaintiff immediately panicked and kicked at the Lyft driver to stop his assault. When she turned around, she saw that he had a grin on his face, and that he was attempting to unzip his pants.”

The plaintiff alleges she escaped through the opposite door and ran away. The complaint also notes that Lyft still charged a fee for the ride.

The lawsuit argues Lyft should be treated as a common carrier with heightened duties to protect passengers, and claims the company advertises safety in a way that can be misleading when passengers are not provided adequate protections. The complaint includes claims for negligence, negligent hiring, retention, and supervision, common carrier negligence, negligent failure to warn, intentional misrepresentation, strict product liability design defect, strict liability failure to warn, and breach of contract. It seeks compensatory and punitive damages.

The filing comes as plaintiffs in other Lyft sexual assault cases ask federal judges to coordinate the lawsuits. In October, plaintiffs petitioned the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to consolidate the federal cases before one judge in the Northern District of California, where the Uber federal litigation has already been centralized. Plaintiffs argue consolidation would streamline discovery, reduce repetitive litigation, and prevent inconsistent rulings across different courts.

Lyft opposes consolidation, pointing to an existing California state court mass tort process that has been centralized for years. The JPML is scheduled to hear oral arguments on January 29 and will decide whether the federal Lyft cases should proceed as a coordinated multidistrict litigation. If consolidation is granted, each plaintiff’s case would remain an individual lawsuit, and each would still need to prove that Lyft’s alleged negligence caused their harm.