Colorado state Rep. Jenny Willford, a Northglenn Democrat, listens to opening day proceedings on the first day of the 2025 session of the Legislature on Jan. 8, 2025, at the Capitol. (Lindsey Toomer/Colorado Newsline)
Colorado Rep. Jenny Willford is suing the ride-sharing platform Lyft over an alleged sexual assault she said occurred during a ride in February last year.
The lawsuit was filed in Adams County District Court on Monday and names Lyft and Shanu Transportation LLC as defendants, according to a press release and copy of the suit provided by Willford’s attorneys.
Willford alleges that she was “subjected to unwelcome, nonconsensual sexual contact, touching, and (lewd) comments” during a Feb. 24, 2024, ride from a Denver coworking space to her Adams County home. Willford exited the car and walked to a location other than her home so the driver wouldn’t know where she lived.
Willford has “endured ongoing stress, anxiety, and loss of personal safety since the incident occurred. The sex assault by the Lyft driver has deeply impacted Plaintiff and changed her life,” the lawsuit reads.
Lyft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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While Lyft showed her driver to be someone named Shanu, Willford was actually picked up by a different, unvetted person using Shanu’s Lyft account.
Shanu Transportation is a registered transportation company in Colorado approved to transport property. The lawsuit alleges the company created a Lyft account using a car in the company’s fleet and illegally allowed access to the driver who picked up Willford.
Lyft account and password sharing is not allowed, according to the lawsuit.
“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.
Willford says she reported the incident the same day it occurred to Lyft and Northglenn police.
The lawsuit outlines what it characterizes as the pervasiveness of fake profiles on the Lyft platform, referencing national and local news investigations on the issue. It also notes that Lyft’s own public safety report from 2019 found over 4,000 known sexual assaults on passengers and drivers.
Willford is requesting a jury trial and seeking economic damages and a commitment from Lyft to implement changes to prevent the easy creation of fake profiles and prevent sexual assaults during rides.
Willford has represented House District 34 in Northglenn since 2021.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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