Lyft Sexual Assault Lawsuits Consolidated Into Federal MDL in California

Federal judges with the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation have ruled that all Lyft sexual assault lawsuits filed in U.S. District Courts nationwide be consolidated into a single multidistrict litigation (PDF of the ruling) in the Northern District of California, where Lyft is headquartered.

The decision centralizes pretrial proceedings and discovery before one judge, streamlining claims that raise similar allegations about passenger safety failures.

The lawsuits allege that Lyft passengers were sexually harassed, assaulted, or kidnapped by drivers, with plaintiffs claiming the company failed to implement adequate safety measures or take responsibility for driver conduct. While the number of Lyft cases is smaller than those involving Uber, survivors of both rideshare services have raised overlapping concerns about insufficient background checks, lack of in vehicle surveillance, limited driver training related to sexual misconduct, and the absence of options for passengers to select driver gender.

In July 2024, Lyft reached a settlement with a group of investors that included commitments to company wide safety reforms. Those measures included increasing visibility of in app safety tools such as silent emergency alerts and direct access to Lyft representatives, as well as appointing a safety focused member to its Culture of Ethics and Compliance Committee. Plaintiffs argue, however, that these steps did not go far enough to prevent sexual assaults.

Uber faces a much larger volume of similar claims, with more than 2,500 passenger sexual assault lawsuits already consolidated into a separate MDL in the same federal court. Additional Uber cases are also proceeding in California state courts, creating a parallel track of litigation focused on rideshare safety.

As Lyft sexual assault lawsuits continued to accumulate across the federal system, plaintiffs moved in October 2025 to establish a dedicated MDL. The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation heard arguments in January, including Lyft’s opposition, before determining that centralization would reduce duplicative discovery and avoid inconsistent rulings.

At least 17 Lyft lawsuits were pending in 10 different federal districts at the time of the decision. On February 5, the JPML issued a Notice of Transfer placing the cases before U.S. District Judge Rita F. Lin in the Northern District of California. In its order, the panel stated that the actions share common factual questions and that consolidation would promote efficiency and fairness in the litigation.

It is expected that the court will select a series of bellwether trials to test key evidence and legal arguments. These early trials often influence settlement discussions by providing insight into how juries may respond to survivor testimony and claims of institutional failure. If no global resolution is reached, individual cases may later be returned to their original courts for trial.