Lyft Sexual Assault MDL Established in Northern District of California

Lawsuits against Lyft involving claims that drivers sexually assaulted passengers will be overseen by one judge, similar to how pretrial proceedings are being handled in the federal Uber sexual assault MDL.

A panel of federal judges has determined that all Lyft sexual assault lawsuits brought in U.S. District Courts nationwide will be consolidated before one judge in the Northern District of California, for coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings.

Over the last several years, Lyft and its competing rideshare service, Uber, have been the subject of numerous lawsuits, each raising similar allegations that passengers were sexually harassed, groped, or even kidnapped and raped by drivers. 

While the Lyft lawsuits are far fewer in number, former passengers of both services say the companies failed to prioritize passenger safety or take responsibility for their drivers’ actions, indicating that Lyft and Uber failed to equip vehicles with surveillance cameras, neglected to provide sexual assault or harassment awareness training for drivers, and did not give passengers the option of selecting the gender of their driver.

In the wake of these concerns, Lyft reached a settlement agreement with a group of investors in July 2024, which included a promise of company-wide reforms and improvements to passenger safety. These include efforts to make passengers more aware of the safety features already built into the Lyft app, such as a tool that allows users to silently alert 911 or contact a Lyft representative. The company also agreed to appoint a member focused on driver and passenger safety to its existing Culture of Ethics and Compliance Committee.

Despite similar efforts made by its competitor, more than 2,500 Uber passenger sexual assault lawsuits have already been consolidated, as part of a multidistrict litigation (MDL) in the Northern District of California. In addition to those federal cases, a number of individual Uber assault lawsuits have also been filed in California state courts.

As a growing number of similar lawsuits against Lyft continue to be brought in the federal court system, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) has determined that a separate sexual assault MDL should be established before U.S. District Judge Rita F. Lin, in the same court where the Uber claims are now moving forward towards trial.

After a group of plaintiffs filed a motion to establish a Lyft sexual assault MDL in October 2025, the U.S. JPML heard oral arguments on January 29, including an opposition filed by the rideshare service, as well as various responses in support, which argued that centralizing the claims would reduce duplicative discovery and avoid inconsistent pretrial rulings.

With at least 17 Lyft lawsuits pending in 10 different U.S. District Courts, the JPML agreed that centralization was appropriate, issuing a Notice of Transfer (PDF) on February 5, placing the litigation under Judge Lin in the Northern District of California.

“On the basis of the papers filed and the hearing session held, we find that these actions involve common questions of fact and that centralization in the Northern District of California will serve the convenience of the parties and witnesses and promote the just and efficient conduct of the litigation. Plaintiffs in these actions allege that they suffered sexual assault or harassment as a result of Lyft’s failure to implement appropriate safety precautions to protect passengers.”

– U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation

It is likely that Judge Lin will call for Lyft 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.

If no Lyft lawsuit settlement or other resolution is reached after those trials and pretrial proceedings, the cases would be transferred back to their originating court for individual trial dates.

Uber Passenger Sexual Assault Trials

Two juries, both at the federal and state level, have already issued verdicts in Uber passenger sexual assault trials. The first trial was concluded in California state court in September 2025, with the jury finding that Uber failed to adequately protect passengers but stopped short of holding the company legally liable for the plaintiff’s injuries.

The first federal Uber trial, held in Arizona, ended last week in an $8.5 million verdict for Jaylynn Dean, who claims she was sexually assaulted by an Uber driver in 2023. While the jury ruled that Uber was not negligent in its lack of safety features, it found that the rideshare service was still responsible for Dean’s injuries because the driver was working as an agent of the company.

Uber officials say the company plans to appeal the verdict. However, the trial was only the first of several designed to see how juries are likely to respond to evidence and testimony that will likely be presented throughout the litigation.

The next federal Uber sexual assault lawsuit is scheduled for trial to begin in North Carolina on April 12.

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