Lyft Lawsuit: Lyft driver accused of repeatedly raping and impregnating Florida woman

Lyft Lawsuit: “Those test results confirmed what [Means] suspected based on the obvious similarity between her son’s appearance and that of the Lyft driver,” the lawsuit continues. A comparison was made between the appearances of the two individuals. “She is compelled to think about her Lyft driver-rapist each time she looks at her son,” the author writes.

The lawsuit states that “Lyft contributed to the attack on [Means] by abandoning its utmost duty of heightened care toward its passengers.” [Means] was the victim of an attack. Lyft is accused of failing to execute safety standards such as fingerprint-based background checks and screening for its applications. These procedures are intended to ensure that convicted sexual offenders are unable to use a phony identification card to become drivers for the company.

The safety of passengers is not, unfortunately, Lyft’s priority. According to the lawsuit, Lyft’s first aim is to maximize profits.

Considering that Lyft was aware of the fact that its passengers had been sexually attacked and raped, the complaint asserts that the company ought to have created a monitoring system.

“Lyft does not tell passengers whether their comments regarding drivers are shared with drivers, which results in a rideshare culture where passengers are fearful that giving honest negative feedback could negatively impact their passenger star rating—or result in retaliation from the driver,” the lawsuit states. “This culture has brought about a ridesharing culture in which passengers are afraid of giving honest feedback.”

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Moreover, the lawsuit alleges that Lyft has been misleadingly selling itself by claiming that it is safe.

In the case, it is stated that “Lyft affirmatively induces passengers, particularly young, unaccompanied, intoxicated, and/or vulnerable women, to use its services with the expectation of safety,” even though “Lyft simultaneously knows that sexual abuse of its passengers has been prevalent.”

“The application process to become a Lyft driver is designed to allow the company to hire as many drivers as possible while incurring minimal associated costs,” the lawsuit states. “The process is simple, it is quick, and it is designed to allow the company such flexibility.” Uber campaigned for and executed a less stringent hiring procedure, although it was aware that this would compromise the safety of its passengers.

Many allegations have been made against Lyft, including general negligence, negligent recruiting, retention, and supervision, deliberate misrepresentation, and also violation of contract.

Means is requesting a jury trial, but he does not specify the amount of damages he is seeking.

Response by Lyft

Lyft stated to News Channel 8 rejecting the notion that the incident occurred on the Lyft platform. Instead, the company stated that it occurred on a separate trip that was organized on an individual basis.

According to a statement released by Lyft, the company has stated that “safety is fundamental to Lyft and the behavior described has no place in our society.” It is not true that the alleged incident that occurred in 2019 occurred on the Lyft platform while the individual was using the Lyft app; rather, it was a separate trip that was organized between the individuals who were involved. We are constantly working to make Lyft an even safer platform, and we have already made efforts to build policies and tools that safeguard both drivers and riders. In addition to having a dedicated safety response staff that is available around the clock, Lyft also has a collaboration with ADT to assist in the event of an emergency and collaborates with prominent national organizations to inform our safety standards.

In a statement, Lyft stated that its investigation and records indicate that the individual who is being accused provided Means with a trip on Lyft. It was said by the company that the alleged occurrence took place several hours after the initial ride, and that neither a safety report nor a customer service report was submitted to the particular company.

The corporation further stated that there was no involvement of the police in the occurrence, and that there was no report filed with the police.

The corporation claimed that it wasn’t aware of the situation until the attorneys contacted it many years later.

According to the business, the driver who is suspected of being involved in the event is no longer using the Lyft platform and “hasn’t been for years.”

Additionally, Lyft stated that it conducts background checks on all driver applicants to see whether or not they have been involved in any criminal crimes or other driving mishaps. These checks are conducted by a third-party firm utilizing the social security number of the applicant. Additionally, the company stated that it scans the sexual offender registers of all fifty states.

The firm also conducts a criminal background check on active Lyft drivers on an annual basis, according to the statement.

Lyft also mentioned that it has several safety features built into its app, such as the ability to share your location and access emergency assistance through ADT. Furthermore, Lyft has recently introduced a new function called Women+ Connect, which is designed to connect female and nonbinary drivers with other female and nonbinary clients.

The Tampa Bay Times (WFLA) – After claiming that she was “repeatedly” raped and impregnated by one of Lyft’s drivers, a woman from Florida filed a federal complaint against the ridesharing business Lyft.

Tuesday was the day when Tabatha Means, who resides in Leesburg, Florida, submitted the lawsuit to a federal court in San Francisco, which is the location of the company’s headquarters.

Means asserts that she was “repeatedly” raped by a Lyft driver with whom she was paired through the app, and that Lyft is accountable for any injuries that its drivers cause to clients even if they were caused by the driver themselves. According to the lawsuit, Lyft has been made aware of sexual assault claims against its drivers since the year 2015, and how the corporation has responded has been described as “appallingly inadequate.”

On April 28, 2019, Means reached out to Lyft for a ride while under the influence of alcohol. According to the evidence presented in the claim, the driver inquired about her state of health and she responded that she was not feeling well. According to the allegations, the driver then started making comments about her appearance, which made her feel uneasy.

In the lawsuit, at the time that Means arrived at her destination, the driver pulled into a parking space and began inappropriately touching her. Means stated that she did not consent to this behavior. Moreover, it is stated that the driver attempted to kiss her.

The driver is accused of following Means inside her home, where he boasted about a sexual experience he had with a passenger that he picked up before she did, according to the lawsuit. Means is the plaintiff in this proceeding. After that, Means was coerced into lying down on a bed and “violently raped” on multiple occasions.

In the case, it is stated that Means had a suspicion that she was pregnant one month after the rape. When she took a pregnancy test to confirm her suspicions, she also told a member of her family that the car service driver had raped her.

An administrative order from Florida’s kid Support Services was used to take a DNA sample from the Lyft driver. The results of the sample showed that there is a greater than 99% possibility that the Lyft driver is the father of the plaintiff’s kid, as stated in the case.