San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Passengers, drivers say Lyft failed to protect them from sexual abuse
Lyft has been hit with new allegations that it failed to prevent sexual abuse and physical assaults in its vehicles. The 17 accusers, who sued in San Francisco Superior Court, included five drivers, some of whom said the ride-hailing company had refused to identify the passengers who had allegedly attacked them.
Stella Grant, a former Lyft driver in Chicago, said she was assaulted in August 2021 by a female passenger who punched her, grabbed the steering wheel and caused an accident, then cut her in the face with a sharp object and fled. After being treated in a hospital, Grant said, she tried to identify the passenger — who was not the same person who had originally ordered the ride — but “Lyft told me I would have to get a court order.”
Amy Collins of Napa said she was groped and choked by a drunken male passenger in March 2020. “When I finally figured out how to speak with a Lyft representative to report the assault, all I received was an email saying that they were very sorry to hear about my story,” Collins said at a news conference. “They never identified the man.”
“Lyft is on the side of the perpetrators, not the victims,” said Adam Wolf, a lawyer for the company’s accusers.
Lyft, like fellow San Francisco ride-hailing giant Uber, has been accused before of failing to provide basic protections for occupants of its vehicles, such as the 14 female passengers who filed a 2019 lawsuit saying they had been sexually assaulted by Lyft drivers. Wolf said a new aspect of Wednesday’s court claims were the allegations by drivers, most of whose complaints are referred to arbitration under company policy. That policy does not apply to sexual assault cases, the attorney said.
In response, Lyft issued a statement saying, “Violence and harassment are not tolerated on the Lyft platform, and drivers or riders who engage in such behavior or otherwise violate our Community Guidelines can and do result in those users being permanently removed from the platform.”
The company said it requires information from prospective passengers before approving rides and allows drivers to see passengers’ ratings before accepting them. Lyft also said it has adopted processes, which it did not describe, to “detect and take action against unsafe rider behavior,” and that it cooperates with police in investigations. But Tracey Cowan, another lawyer in the cases filed Wednesday, said Lyft has refused to protect passengers or drivers, resulting in “acts of violence that left our clients with disabilities, permanent deformities, and lifelong trauma.” She said the company has declined to adopt safety measures such as installing cameras in its vehicles.
Another accuser, Katherine Rasta of Phoenix, said she was five minutes into her ride in a Lyft car when the driver started talking about going to a hotel, smoking drugs and having sex. When they reached her destination, she said, he locked the door, sexually assaulted her and warned her not to tell anyone because he knew where she lived.
“When I contacted Lyft and reported the assault, they didn’t care what happened to me. They didn’t even follow up with me about it,” Rasta said.
Erika Garcia-Galicia, a former Lyft driver in Los Angeles, said she hasn’t recovered from an incident in February when a male passenger grabbed her, groped her and tried to kiss her before she sprayed hand sanitizer on his face. He left the car but continued to harass her on her cell phone, even after she called Lyft and the police, she said.
Now, she said, “I have trouble sleeping and have been having nightmares. I can no longer go to places on my own, I can’t be around strangers ... and I no longer socialize because there’s just so many untrustworthy people out there.” Lyft, she said, “never contacted me to see how I was doing or to see if there was anything they could do to make me feel comfortable.”
“I have trouble sleeping and have been having nightmares. I can no longer go to places on my own, I can’t be around strangers ... and I no longer socialize.”
Erika Garcia-Galicia, ex-driver who says passenger groped her