When you call a rideshare or check into a hotel, you place your safety in the hands of a company. You trust that the driver has been screened, that the property is secure, and that the business has taken reasonable steps to protect you. When that trust is broken—when a rideshare passenger is assaulted by a driver, or a hotel's failures allow a guest to be harmed—survivors deserve to know that the company can be held accountable, not just the individual who caused the harm.
At Gilman & Bedigian, we represent survivors of sexual assault connected to rideshare services and the hospitality industry. We understand how violating and disorienting these experiences are, and we approach every survivor with compassion and discretion. We also have the experience and resources to take on the large corporations that operate these platforms and properties.
You are not alone. Confidential support is available 24/7 through the National Sexual Assault Hotline (RAINN) at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). Speaking with our team is also free and confidential.
When you are ready, we are here. Call 1-800-529-6162 (phones answered 24/7) or request a free, confidential consultation online. There is no fee unless we win your case.
Sexual Assault in Rideshare and Hospitality Settings
The rideshare and hospitality industries put people into vulnerable situations by design—alone in a stranger's car, or in a private room at an unfamiliar property. Responsible companies recognize this and take steps to protect their customers. When they fail to, the consequences can be devastating. The settings where these cases arise include:
- Rideshare and transportation services, including assaults by drivers against passengers, and assaults by passengers against drivers.
- Hotels, motels, and resorts, including assaults enabled by inadequate security or staff misconduct.
- Bars, nightclubs, and entertainment venues.
- Cruise ships and other travel and hospitality settings.
In each of these settings, the company's choices—about who it allows to work or operate on its platform, and about the safety measures it puts in place—can mean the difference between a customer's safety and their harm.
How Rideshare and Hospitality Companies Fail to Protect People
These cases focus on the company's failures, not only on the individual who committed the assault. Common failures include:
Inadequate driver screening and background checks
Rideshare companies control who is allowed to drive on their platforms. Failing to conduct adequate background checks, ignoring concerning histories, or allowing unsafe drivers to continue can expose a company to liability.
Failure to respond to complaints and warning signs
When a company receives reports about a dangerous driver or employee and fails to act—allowing them to continue—it can be responsible for the harm that follows.
Inadequate safety features and protocols
Safety tools, identity verification, trip monitoring, and clear procedures for reporting and responding to incidents are within a company's control. Failing to implement reasonable safeguards can be a basis for liability.
Inadequate hotel security (negligent security)
Hotels and properties have a duty to provide reasonable security for their guests. Broken locks, poor lighting, malfunctioning key-card systems, unmonitored access, untrained staff, and ignored threats can all create the conditions for an assault.
Staff misconduct and inadequate hiring and supervision
Hospitality businesses are responsible for screening and supervising their employees. When an employee uses their position to harm a guest—such as misusing access to a guest's room—the business may be held responsible.
Failure to act on signs of trafficking
Hotels and transportation providers are increasingly expected to recognize and respond to signs of human trafficking on their premises and platforms, as discussed below.
If a company's failures contributed to what happened to you, we can help you understand your rights. Call 1-800-529-6162 or request a confidential consultation.
Corporate Accountability, Negligent Security, and Human Trafficking Claims
What sets rideshare and hospitality cases apart is that the defendants are often large, well-resourced corporations—and that several distinct legal frameworks can apply. Understanding them is essential to holding these companies accountable.
Negligent security and premises liability. Hotels, resorts, bars, and other businesses owe their guests and patrons a duty to take reasonable measures to keep them safe from foreseeable harm. When a property has reason to know of a danger—through prior incidents, the surrounding environment, or specific threats—and fails to provide adequate security, it can be held responsible for an assault that results. These "negligent security" claims turn on what the business knew and what reasonable steps it failed to take.
Corporate negligence on rideshare platforms. Rideshare companies exercise significant control over who drives, how trips are monitored, and how complaints are handled. When a company's choices in these areas fall short—and a passenger or driver is harmed as a result—the company itself, not just the individual, may bear responsibility.
Human trafficking claims. A particularly important development in this area is civil liability for human trafficking. Under the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) and a growing body of state laws, survivors of trafficking may bring civil claims not only against traffickers, but against businesses—including hotels—that knowingly benefited from participation in a venture they knew, or should have known, was engaged in trafficking. Hotels and transportation companies that ignored clear warning signs of trafficking on their premises or platforms have increasingly been held to account. These cases are legally and factually complex, and they require a firm that understands both the law and how to prove what a company knew or should have known.
Determining which of these frameworks applies to your situation is part of what we do.
Who May Be Held Responsible?
Depending on the facts, responsibility may extend to:
- Rideshare and transportation companies, for screening, monitoring, safety measures, and their response to complaints.
- Hotels, motels, and resorts, including franchisors and management companies, for security and staff conduct.
- Bars, nightclubs, and venues.
- Property owners and management companies.
- Security companies contracted to protect a property.
- The individual who committed the assault.
Large corporations often have layered ownership and franchise structures, and identifying every responsible party requires careful investigation—work that can also be important to ensuring resources are available to compensate survivors.
Sorting out responsibility is our job, not yours. Call 1-800-529-6162 or contact us online for a free, confidential review.
The Lasting Impact on Survivors
Sexual assault can cause profound and lasting harm—anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, difficulty with trust, and effects that ripple through every part of a survivor's life. When the assault occurred in a situation a company controlled and should have made safe, that harm can be compounded by a sense of betrayal. These effects are real and serious, and they deserve to be taken seriously.
A civil claim can provide resources for therapy and recovery, hold the company accountable, and help drive the safety improvements that protect others. We never lose sight of what is truly at stake for the people we represent.
Time Limits and Why You Should Act Soon
Sexual assault claims are subject to a statute of limitations that varies by state, and the applicable deadline can depend on the type of claim and the parties involved. Human trafficking claims under federal and state law have their own deadlines. In addition, evidence in these cases—platform data, trip records, security footage, key-card logs, and incident reports—can be lost over time, so acting sooner rather than later helps preserve what may be critical to your case.
Because these deadlines and evidentiary issues are complex, it is important to consult an attorney as soon as you are able. If you are unsure whether you still have a claim, the best step is simply to ask.
Let us check the deadlines and help preserve evidence, confidentially and at no cost. Call 1-800-529-6162 or contact us.
How We Help, and What to Expect
Your first conversation with us is free, confidential, and without pressure. We listen, answer your questions, and explain your options clearly. If we take your case, we move quickly to preserve evidence—seeking platform and trip data, security and surveillance footage, incident reports, and records of prior complaints—and we take on the corporation and its lawyers and insurers so you don't have to. Your privacy is protected wherever possible, including through pseudonym filings where appropriate, and you set the pace throughout.
Why Survivors Trust Gilman & Bedigian
We lead with compassion. We are a team of experienced trial attorneys, founded by Charles Gilman and Briggs Bedigian, and we treat every survivor with respect, patience, and care for their privacy. We also have the experience and resources to take on major corporations—rideshare platforms, national hotel chains, and the companies behind them. We have recovered more than $800 million for injured victims and families, and we are known as trial attorneys willing to take powerful companies to court. Our results include some of the largest medical malpractice and birth injury verdicts in Maryland and Pennsylvania history—among them a $182 million verdict and a $55 million verdict against Johns Hopkins Hospital—demonstrating our ability to stand up to large, well-funded organizations and win. Our work has been recognized by the American Association for Justice, Super Lawyers, and an A-rating from the Better Business Bureau. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome; each case is different and must be evaluated on its own facts.
With offices in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Texas, we handle serious cases nationwide in cooperation with local counsel. And because we work on a contingency-fee basis, there is no fee unless we win your case.
When you are ready, reach out. Call 1-800-529-6162 (answered 24/7) or request a free, confidential consultation.
Frequently Asked Questions About Rideshare and Hospitality Sexual Assault
Can I sue a rideshare company if I was assaulted by a driver?
Possibly. Rideshare companies control who drives on their platforms, how trips are monitored, and how complaints are handled. When a company's failures in these areas contributed to an assault, it may be held responsible—not just the individual driver. An attorney can evaluate the specifics of your situation.
Can a hotel be held responsible for an assault on its property?
Yes, potentially. Hotels owe guests a duty of reasonable security. When inadequate security—such as broken locks, poor lighting, unmonitored access, or untrained staff—or staff misconduct contributed to an assault, the hotel may be liable under negligent-security and premises-liability principles.
What are human trafficking civil claims?
Under the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act and a growing body of state laws, survivors of trafficking may bring civil claims against traffickers and against businesses—such as hotels—that knowingly benefited from a venture they knew or should have known involved trafficking. These claims are an important avenue of accountability and are factually complex.
Do I need a criminal case to bring a civil claim?
No. Civil claims are separate from the criminal system and do not require a police report, criminal charges, or a conviction. A civil case proceeds on its own and uses a lower standard of proof.
What evidence matters in these cases?
Evidence can include platform and trip data, driver or employee records and prior complaints, security and surveillance footage, key-card and access logs, and incident reports. Much of this evidence is controlled by the company and can be lost over time, which is why acting promptly is important.
Will my name be made public?
Not necessarily. In many cases, survivors can pursue a claim while protecting their identity, such as through a pseudonym filing, subject to court approval. Your consultation with us is always confidential.
How long do I have to file a claim?
It depends on your state's statute of limitations and the type of claim; trafficking claims have their own deadlines. Because deadlines and evidence-preservation issues can be time-sensitive, it is best to consult an attorney as soon as you are able.
How much does it cost to hire an attorney?
Gilman & Bedigian handles these cases on a contingency-fee basis. There are no upfront costs, and you owe no attorney's fee unless we win your case. Your consultation is free and confidential.
Companies Profit From Your Trust. They Must Also Protect You.
When a rideshare platform or a hotel invites your business, it takes on a responsibility for your safety. When a company's failures allow a survivor to be harmed, it should be held accountable—and survivors should not have to take on a major corporation alone.
Gilman & Bedigian is here to help. We will listen with compassion, move quickly to preserve evidence, investigate what the company knew and failed to do, and pursue accountability on your behalf. There is no cost to begin, no obligation, and no pressure.
Speak With a Compassionate Attorney Today
- Free, fully confidential consultation
- Survivor-centered, trauma-informed approach
- Experienced trial attorneys who take on rideshare platforms and hotel chains
- No fee unless we win your case
When you are ready, contact Gilman & Bedigian. Call 1-800-529-6162 (answered 24/7) or request your free, confidential consultation.
Confidential support is also always available through the National Sexual Assault Hotline (RAINN) at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673), 24/7.
