JPML To Consider MDL for Lyft Passenger Sexual Assault Lawsuits Filed in Federal Courts on Jan. 29

A motion for transfer filed with the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) seeks to consolidate all Lyft passenger sexual assault lawsuits before one California federal judge.

At the end of this month, a panel of federal judges will weigh oral arguments from plaintiffs and the rideshare service Lyft, to determine whether all sexual assault lawsuits brought by former passengers should be consolidated before one U.S. District Judge for discovery and pretrial proceedings.

Lyft currently faces at least 17 passenger sexual assault lawsuits, each raising similar allegations that plaintiffs were assaulted by drivers after using the rideshare app. The lawsuits seek to hold Lyft responsible for the driver sexual assaults, claiming that the company failed to take basic steps to prevent drivers from sexually assaulting passengers, mostly women, who say they were harassed, groped, and even abducted or raped.

Similar allegations have also been raised in more than 2,500 Uber passenger sexual assault lawsuits brought against Lyft’s competitor, which have already been consolidated before one judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, as part of an MDL or multidistrict litigation. However, the Lyft lawsuits are currently proceeding before various different U.S. District judges without coordinated management.

In October 2025, Lyft plaintiffs filed a motion to transfer with the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML), calling for consolidation before one judge in the Northern District of California, where the Uber lawsuits have been centralized. The motion argues that consolidation would serve the convenience of the court, parties and witnesses, preventing duplicate discovery and contradictory rulings by different judges.

Lyft responded in November, asking the JPML to reject the motion for consolidation, primarily due to the mass tort of Lyft lawsuits already centralized in California state court. That mass tort has existed for six years, defendants claim, and most discovery has been completed. The rideshare service’s lawyers indicate there are already 1,971 cases as part of the Judicial Council Coordination Proceedings (JCCP), with 1,569 brought over incidents that allegedly occurred outside of California. 

The JPML issued a Notice of Hearing Session (PDF) on December 19, indicating that it will hear oral arguments on Lyft driver sexual assault lawsuit consolidation on January 29 at the James M. Carter and Judith N. Keep U.S. Courthouse in San Diego, California.

If the panel decides to heed the plaintiffs’ motion, all federal Lyft lawsuits would be consolidated before one U.S. District Court judge for coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings. However, each claim would remain an individual lawsuit where plaintiffs must establish that their damages were the direct result of Lyft’s negligence.

The judge assigned to oversee the cases would be expected to call for Lyft driver sexual assault lawsuit bellwether trials, where the parties could see how juries would respond to evidence and testimony likely to be repeated throughout the litigation.

However, if no Lyft lawsuit settlement or other resolution is reached after those pretrial proceedings and trials, each case would be transferred back to its originating court for an individual trial date.

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