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 https://www.cnn.com/2019/ .. uit/index.html


Twenty more people are suing Lyft over alleged s*xual a*sault, s*xual misconduct or r*pe by drivers while using its service.

The plaintiffs, who include 19 women and the husband of one of the women, are accusing Lyft of failing to take adequate steps to protect riders, despite repeated claims that safety is a top priority.

The lawsuit comes on the heels of a similar lawsuit filed by the same law firm in September on behalf of 14 anonymous women, in addition to numerous other individual suits that have been filed in recent months.

The new allegations from a combination of anonymous women and six named women span the country. The lawsuit, which was filed in San Francisco, alleges most incidents occurred this year, with a handful taking place after the previous suit's filing and Lyft's subsequent update on safety features one week later, which included promises for future initiatives such as creating a mandatory safety exercise for driver applicants

Many of the alleged incidents happened when using Lyft's service after a night of drinking, a pattern CNN has previously reported on. But not all. In one case, the lawsuit states, a women was taking a Lyft in Brooklyn to a job interview when she allegedly saw her driver looking at her in the rear-view mirror and then noticed him masturbating.

"What these women describe is something no one should ever have to endure. Everyone deserves the ability to move about the world safely, yet women still face disproportionate risks," Lyft spokesperson Alexandra LaManna said in a statement to CNN Business. "We recognize these risks, which is why we are relentless in our work to build safety into every aspect of our work."

Some of the alleged incidents occurred after a crisis center or healthcare provider ordered a Lyft ride on the women's behalf, according to the lawsuit. It is unclear if those institutions were partners of Lyft, which works with certain healthcare providers and touts itself as a healthcare transportation leader.

As with the lawsuit filed in September, the women allege that Lyft "chooses to stonewall" law enforcement investigating a*saults and that it often fails to inform riders about the status of the drivers who have been accused of s*xual a*sault or r*pe

While some of the women suing say they reported incidents to Lyft and never received answers about whether the driver in question continued to work for the company, in one instance, Lyft allegedly told a woman the driver who a*saulted her was no longer driving for the company. The woman later spotted the same driver with another passenger, with a Lyft sign on his car, the most recent lawsuit claimed

The women in both suits also allege that Lyft's background checks are inadequate and that the company fails to protect passengers with sufficient safety features.


Attorney Michael bomberger, whose firm Estey & bomberger is bringing the suits, said Lyft's safety updates to date have fallen short.

"They respond to what Uber does several months or even years later," he told CNN Business. For instance, the company announced continuous driver background checks after Uber. It didn't add enhanced identity verification checks until two years after Uber. Lyft announced in September that it has fully rolled out an in-app emergency button, a feature that's been available in Uber since last year.

"This year, nearly one in five employees at Lyft have been dedicated to initiatives that strengthen the platform's safety. In just the last few months, we've launched more than 15 new safety features," added the Lyft spokesperson. "Our work on safety is never done, and we will continue to invest in new features, protocols, and policies to ensure Lyft is the safest form of transportation for our riders and drivers."

uber got jammed up with the same kind of cases

Oswaldgatesjr said What's crazy is s*xual harassment is a preference if u are attractive to her and u pull a lil move and she laughs it off and starts to glow its cool but if a brother who does the same thing and she dont find him attractive then its harassment.