More Than 2,000 Lyft Lawsuits Over Sexual Assaults by Drivers Pending Nationwide

Lyft and Uber both face thousands of lawsuits filed by women who allege they were sexually assaulted by rideshare drivers.

More than 2,000 Lyft sexual assault lawsuits are currently pending in California state court, while another 132 claims filed in federal courts nationwide are being handled through a separate federal proceeding.

The lawsuits raise similar allegations that Lyft failed to provide adequate safety measures to protect passengers, including sufficient driver background checks and other safeguards that plaintiffs say could have helped prevent groping, sexual harassment, rape and kidnappings by drivers.

Many of the women argue that Lyft marketed its service as a safe transportation option, particularly for passengers who had been drinking and should not drive themselves. However, the claims allege Lyft placed profits ahead of passenger safety by allowing dangerous drivers to remain on the platform despite prior complaints, criminal histories or other warning signs.

Since the claims were filed in both state and federal courts, the litigation is moving forward along two separate tracks. The federal cases are consolidated before U.S. District Judge Rita F. Lin in the Northern District of California, while the California state court lawsuits are being handled through a judicial council coordination proceeding, or JCCP.

Lyft Sexual Assault MDL

In February, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) established a federal multidistrict litigation, or MDL, consolidating Lyft sexual assault lawsuits filed throughout the federal court system before Judge Lin for coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings.

On Wednesday, Judge Lin will meet with attorneys for plaintiffs and Lyft for a case management conference to discuss the current status of the litigation. Ahead of the conference, attorneys submitted a joint case management statement (PDF) and proposed agenda outlining several issues that remain under discussion.

There are currently 132 lawsuits pending in the federal MDL, where attorneys are working through discovery and exchanging documents, testimony and other evidence relevant to the claims. According to a September 17 joint statement (PDF), the parties are also working to identify search terms that will be used to locate relevant information stored electronically by Lyft.

However, after several meetings, plaintiffs’ attorneys indicate they believe the parties will need the court to intervene to issue judgments on the use of numerous search terms still under dispute. They note that “Lyft is more hopeful” of a resolution.

On September 18, Magistrate Judge Lisa J. Cisneros issued a text-only order to the docket, indicating she has reviewed the case management statement and other documents. She called for the parties to exchange briefs and file a proposed pretrial order with the court by Tuesday, with a hearing scheduled for immediately after the case management conference.

The court has indicated it wants case-specific fact discovery for the first wave of expected Lyft bellwether trials completed by December 10, 2027, meaning the first trial would not happen before mid-2028.

Rideshare Service Sexual Assault Trials

A similar bellwether process is already underway in the separate Uber sexual assault litigation, which involves more than 4,400 claims consolidated in another federal MDL in the Northern District of California.

The first Uber bellwether trial ended earlier this year with a federal jury awarding $8.5 million to Jaylynn Dean, who said she was sexually assaulted by an Uber driver in 2023. Jurors rejected allegations that Uber negligently designed or implemented its safety features, but determined the company was legally responsible because the driver was acting within the scope of his relationship with Uber.

In addition to the federal litigation, a jury in a California state court case in September 2025 determined Uber failed to adequately protect passengers from sexual assault. However, jurors did not hold Uber liable for the assault and indicated the company did not have to pay damages.

These cases are similar enough that the Uber bellwether trials may be concluded before the Lyft trials begin and could have significant influence on both settlement negotiations. However, if the parties do not reach a settlement, the MDL judges will likely remand the claims back to their original districts for individual trial dates.

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