Meghan McCormick: Lawyer for Lyft and Uber Sexual Assault

By Meghan McCormick

In representing dozens of victims who were sexually assaulted at the hands of their Lyft drivers, Levin Simes Abrams LLP hopes to hold Lyft accountable for its negligent corporate conduct that allowed these incidents to occur.

Lyft has been on notice since 2015, if not sooner, that passengers were being assaulted by Lyft drivers. It chose profits over public safety and failed to take any adequate steps to ensure passengers’ safety while at the same time marketing itself as a safe ride home for vulnerable women.

We have filed 18 lawsuits so far, and we will continue to file cases on behalf of dozens more.  We have filed a petition with the Judicial Council of California requesting that these and at least 16 similar cases filed in the state of California be coordinated in San Francisco Superior Court in light of the fact that Lyft is headquartered here.

In addition to seeking compensation for those victimized by Lyft drivers and by Lyft in its failure to adequately respond to this epidemic of sexual assaults, our firm, and our clients, are seeking meaningful changes to Lyft’s business model to better ensure passenger safety.  Meaningful changes should include, at a minimum:

Background checks that include biometric fingerprinting;

1. A zero tolerance policy for nonconsensual physical contact with passengers;
2. A zero tolerance policy for contacting passengers after a ride unless it is to return lost property; requiring video cameras to be on at all times and footage automatically uploaded and stored for at least a period of several days;
3. A system for monitoring when a driver prematurely terminates the ride or substantially deviates from the intended course and checking in with passengers to ensure their safety when this happens;
4. More transparency with regards to complaints of sexual assault and action taken in response; and
   Better cooperation with law enforcement investigating claims of sexual assault by a Lyft driver.