Colorado Rep. Jenny Willford has filed a lawsuit in opposition to the ride-share app Lyft over an alleged sexual assault throughout a visit with a person impersonating a licensed driver final February.
Willford alleged within the swimsuit that she was “subjected to unwelcome, nonconsensual sexual contact, touching, and (lewd) comments” throughout a experience to her Adams County dwelling on Feb. 24, 2024. The advances have been apparently so egregious that Willford exited the automobile early and walked to a location aside from her dwelling so the driving force wouldn’t know the place she lived.
Lyft data confirmed that her driver was presupposed to be somebody named Shanu. As an alternative, an unvetted driver who didn’t match the profile’s description confirmed up, in accordance with the swimsuit.
The individual had been utilizing the Shanu account on behalf of Shanu Transportation, a registered transportation firm that’s solely permitted to maneuver property, Colorado Newsline reported.
“Shanu allowed their drivers to use this account to pick up supplemental business, without going through the usual driver qualification and profile process required by Colorado law to use a Lyft driver account,” the lawsuit reads.
Usually, a driver must bear a background examine and driving historical past overview earlier than they are often licensed by Lyft. Account and password sharing is prohibited by the rideshare firm.
Kholmurod Halimov, the Shanu Transportation proprietor named within the lawsuit, instructed Colorado Newsline that he let a buddy use the Shanu Lyft account. He surmised that the person who drove Willford was a buddy’s brother.
Halimov asserted that an account-sharing ban isn’t listed in Lyft’s contract. The closest permissible function is Lyft Household, which permits one account to be shared between as much as 5 folks, however this feature is for riders solely — not drivers.
The Shanu driver profile hadn’t been utilized by Halimov since earlier than February 2024, he instructed the outlet. He claimed that the one who allegedly made sexual advances to Willford was the one different individual to make use of his account and that it was solely meant to be a one-time factor.
Regardless of being named within the lawsuit, Halimov reportedly had no concept what had occurred when he was initially contacted by Colorado Newsline.
The lawsuit hinges on the pervasiveness of phony profiles on Lyft and its shoddy public security historical past. Lyft simply settled one other lawsuit over sexual assaults by its drivers in July.
In 2021, Lyft launched a report detailing its intercourse assault knowledge throughout three years that confirmed a staggering 360 rapes alone. In whole, there have been 4,100 experiences of sexual assault and 10 deaths between 2017 and 2019.
In December 2019 alone, greater than 30 ladies sued Lyft in two separate lawsuits alleging sexual assaults by drivers and a “sexual assault predator crisis.”
When you’ve got been sexually assaulted and stay in New York, you possibly can name 1-800-942-6906 free of charge and confidential disaster counseling. When you stay exterior the state, you possibly can dial the 24/7 Nationwide Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.
