A New Jersey woman said she was left traumatized after her “vile” Lyft driver pulled out his penis and urinated into a plastic container during her Manhattan commute.
The woman, identified in court documents as Jane Doe, said she called a Lyft just after 8 a.m. in March to get from her home in Fort Lee, New Jersey, to her job at Mount Sinai West in Midtown.
In her lawsuit against Lyft and the driver, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, the woman alleges that the driver “removed his penis from his pants and began urinating into a plastic container somewhere on a public road on the west side of Manhattan.”
She said she was shocked and angry, and suffered long-term depression and other mental and emotional distress.
Jane Doe alleged that the “open lewd acts and exposure” constituted sexual assault. The driver, who identified himself only as “Lewis,” had “the clear ability to cause imminent harmful or offensive physical contact” through his “lewd conduct,” she alleged in court documents.
In court documents, she called the conduct “so outrageous, shocking, despicable and contemptible that it goes beyond the bounds of common decency.”
She alleges the San Francisco-based company was negligent in hiring Lewis and failing to protect passengers from “sexual predators.”
The lawsuit alleges that the company:[recognize] Symptoms [Luis] He used his position to expose himself to passengers.”
The lawsuit also alleged that Lyft’s “aggressive policy of promising prompt and generous compensation to its drivers” caused drivers to become “careless” and “distracted,” creating “dangerous and dangerous conditions” on the roads.
Jane Doe asked to remain anonymous to avoid not only embarrassment but also the “social stigma associated with being sexually assaulted,” and continues to feel “shame and anxiety,” according to court documents in which she asked the court to withhold her name.
The woman is seeking unspecified damages.
The woman’s lawyer and Lyft did not respond to inquiries from The Washington Post.
