Man punched by driver sues Lyft; alleges poor screening let driver get rehired, kick taxi driver to death

Poor screening by ride-hailing giant Lyft allowed the hiring of a violent driver who attacked an attorney catching a ride to Wrigley Field two years ago, according to a lawsuit filed Friday.

Scott Gore, 56, who lives in Lake View, wanted his Lyft driver to take a different route to avoid traffic as he neared the ballpark July 1, 2018. The request sparked an argument; the driver, Fangqi Lu, challenged Gore to fight.

“Hit me and I’ll sue,” Gore said. Lu responded by punching Gore in the face, knocking him to the ground, and driving away, the lawsuit claims.

The lawsuit accuses Lyft of failing to properly screen and train its drivers, noting Lu was driving on an expired license at the time.

Gore filed a complaint with Lyft and the Chicago Police Department. Lyft deactivated Lu from its online platform, essentially firing him, two weeks after the attack.

But Lu, 31 at the time, was not deterred. On Aug. 1, he used the driver’s license of a friend, Bing Liu, to reapply to Lyft. According to the suit, Lyft missed a number of red flags that would have uncovered the fraud.

Despite using his friend’s driver’s license, Lu used the same Social Security number, cell phone number, email address, license plate number and Vehicle Identification Number associated with his previous account that Lyft had deactivated.

Lyft failed to spot the fraud and activated Lu.

Lu also drove with Uber at the time. And on Sept. 2, 2018, following a traffic dispute, he roundhouse-kicked a taxi driver in the head as he walked away from Lu at an intersection just west of downtown. The taxi driver, Anis Tungekar, 64, died from his injuries. The violent encounter was captured by nearby security cameras.

In the wake of Tungekar’s death, a Sun-Times investigation revealed Lyft failed to properly follow a warning system meant to weed out violent drivers.

Lyft failed to notify the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection — the city agency overseeing the ride-hailing industry — of Lu’s violent encounter with Gore. Lyft was fined the maximum amount — $10,000.

Had the city received notification from Lyft, it would have warned other ride-hailing companies, including Uber, about Lu.

Lu’s fatal kick to Tungekar while driving for Uber occurred two months after he punched Gore.

“Accountability is the key to change,” said Gore’s attorney, Mike Gallagher. “Lyft’s repeated failures at multiple levels resulted in the beating of one client, and the death of another. ... I will continue fighting to hold Lyft accountable by providing injured victims their day in court, and call on city officials to join the effort to bring needed change through long overdue accountability measures.”

A spokeswoman for Lyft didn’t immediately return a request for comment.

In addition to Lyft, Lu is also named in the suit filed Friday. But there’s little chance he’ll appear at legal proceedings. He’s fled to China and faces murder charges in Cook County.

The United States and China have no extradition treaty, so there’s little hope of bringing Lu back to face trial, Chicago police have said.