Estey & Bomberger File Lawsuit Against Lyft on Behalf Disabled Female Passenger
On December 5th, 2019, the law firm of Estey & Bomberger filed a sexual assault lawsuit against Lyft on behalf of a young 23-year-old disabled woman. The lawsuit alleges that:
- the Lyft ride-hailing platform has known about a sexual assault problem for nearly five years
- Lyft’s response has been appalling inadequate
The victim in the lawsuit, Cheyenne G., claims her Lyft driver sexually assaulted her on May 27, 2019, when she used Lyft’s service for transportation from the grocery store to her home.
Cheyenne is disabled, unable to drive, and relies on ride-hailing for her independence. An aneurysm when she was 12-years-old and more than a dozen surgeries have left her with the inability to run, she walks with a “major” limp and is legally blind in one eye.
The lawsuit alleges that:
- When Cheyenne arrived at her home, the Lyft driver offered to help with her grocery bags.
- After the driver brought the last bag of groceries up to her front door, the driver grabbed her face and tried to kiss her.
- She pushed the driver but he then grabbed her wrists and tried to force himself on her.
- She kneed him in the stomach and pushed him as hard as she could while yelling at him to get out.
- She immediately called Lyft’s Emergency hotline and then filed a police report the next day.
Despite contacting and complaining to Lyft via their Emergency hotline, she never heard back from the company. The lawsuit states that the police contacted Lyft but have not been provided any information.
According to attorney Mike Bomberger:
- Lyft has known about this problem for nearly five years and they’ve done nothing to fix it. Instead, Lyft has made a concerted effort in the media, in litigation and in criminal cases to hide the true extent of the sexual assaults that are being committed by their drivers.
- Cheyenne should never have been sexually assaulted if Lyft acted nearly five years ago when they recognized that they had a sexual assault problem with their drivers.
- Instead, like the Catholic Church and other institutions, they covered up the sexual assault problem for as long as they could. Lyft had years to fix the problem and remove sexual predators from their platform, but they chose not to. As a result, the Lyft platform is now a magnet for sexual predators, who know that the company will cover up their crimes.
- In the case of Cheyenne, even though she complained to Lyft and filed a police report, the driver is no-where to be found. He could be driving for Uber. He could have left the area. One thing is certain though, Lyft is making no effort to work with law enforcement to hold him accountable, and to send a message to other drivers that this type of crime will not be tolerated.
For Media Inquiries or Comment, Contact:
Ed Vasquez at 408-420-6558 or ed@ejvcommunications.com
Judy Peterson at 669-232-4560 or judypeterson773@gmail.com