A Brooklyn composer is alleging that he was brutally beaten by a Lyft driver who did not have a TLC license, the latest in a series of lawsuits accusing the rideshare company of failing to properly vet its workers.
The alleged victim, 40-year-old Jonathan Melville Pratt, filed the complaint in Brooklyn Supreme Court on Wednesday. He claims that his "illustrious career" as a musician and composer was upended on May 24th, 2017, after Lyft driver Kouame Nguessan slammed his head into a doorway and knocked him unconscious outside a Williamsburg restaurant.
The driver was allegedly angry that Pratt had cancelled his ride, then filmed Nguessan making an illegal U-turn while attempting to pick up the passenger anyway.
Security camera footage of the incident shows a portion of the beatdown, which allegedly left Pratt with a concussion and broken wrist—injuries he says he still has not fully recovered from. In addition to attacking him, Pratt alleges that Nguessan yelled "sexually demeaning" profanities at a woman who was with Pratt, and took a swing at her.
But, the 41-page filing adds, "as shocking as this assault was, more shocking is how Lyft flouted the law to put Nguessan behind the wheel of a Lyft vehicle."
According to the complaint, Lyft failed to conduct a background check on the driver, then hired him despite not having a Taxi and Limousine Commission license, as required by city law.
The suit also claims that the company disregarded numerous previous complaints against Nguessan for "threatening, harassing and abusing" riders.
In recent months, there have been more than two dozens lawsuits filed against Lyft for allegedly failing to protect its passengers from predatory drivers. Just last week, a woman sued the company for keeping a driver on its platform who allegedly kidnapped her, and allowed multiple men to rape her, after she called a ride from a Crown Heights bar.
"Lyft states one thing in public promises to its riders, and doesn't follow through on its promises," Matthew Metzger, the attorney representing Pratt, told Gothamist.
The complaint suggests that the company's rapid growth and high employee turnover is to blame, creating incentives for Lyft to "hire quickly and ignore safety warnings."
Nguessan was eventually removed from the platform, but not until more than six months after Pratt filed his police report. Police have not yet charged the man, and attorneys say that he may have fled the country.
"Safety is fundamental to Lyft," a spokesperson for the company said in a statement. "The incident described is terrifying, and the driver was permanently banned from the Lyft community."
