Lyft sued over alleged discrimination against riders with service dogs, wheelchairs

The U.S. Justice Department has filed a $53 million lawsuit against Lyft alleging the rideshare company discriminated against a Long Island woman and at least 12 other passengers with disabilities on numerous occasions.

The lawsuit, filed on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleges Lyft violated Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), which requires private transportation companies to service passengers with disabilities and their service animals and assist riders with storable wheelchairs and mobility devices.

According to online documents, Lyft drivers frequently denied rides to at least 13 people, many using guide dogs or wheelchairs and with physical disabilities including legal or partial blindness and hearing impairment.

Mia Ives-Rublee, of Stony Brook, who has osteogenesis imperfecta, a genetic disease that causes bones to be weak and break easily, uses a wheelchair and a service animal to perform several tasks, the lawsuit said.

In June 2022 a Lyft driver arrived at Ives-Rublee’s pickup location and drove away once they saw her service animal.

In another instance in September 2022, Ives-Rublee attempted to open the back door of a Lyft she had requested but was told by the driver before entering that pets are not allowed.

"When Ms. Ives-Rublee made clear that her dog is not a pet but a service dog, the Lyft driver responded, ‘I don’t care, he is a dog.’ "and he canceled the ride," the lawsuit said.

She waited for a second Lyft to arrive and the driver again denied her a ride because of her service animal. After Ives-Rublee explained Lyft must legally provide her service, the driver told her she had to pay more money to travel.

The lawsuit also includes a video of the driver yelling at Ives-Rublee and driving away.

Ives-Rublee filed a complaint with Lyft about the two drivers, but the company did not deactivate them and offered her a $10 Lyft credit.

Lyft has continued to deny Ives-Rublee service because of the service dog.

In another instance, Ives-Rublee did not bring her service dog and a Lyft driver told her they could not assist with stowing her wheelchair and drove away.

"Lyft is aware of, but fails to prevent and remedy, disability-based discrimination throughout its transportation services," the lawsuit said. "Lyft does not adequately train its drivers and customer service representatives about their ADA obligations; monitor its drivers to prevent discrimination; or provide meaningful relief to people it has discriminated against."

In an emailed statement, a Lyft spokesman said: "Discrimination has no place in the Lyft community. We have long-standing policies requiring drivers to accommodate riders who travel with service animals or use foldable mobility devices, and drivers who violate these policies face serious consequences, including permanent deactivation."

The Justice Department said after it notified Lyft of its investigation into complaints of widespread disability-based discrimination, the rideshare company instituted a voluntary opt-in feature that allows riders to disclose to a driver that they would be traveling with a service animal.

This is separate from its pet feature, where passengers traveling with a pet pay $4 extra plus tax.

"Despite this measure, Lyft has continued to discriminate against riders who use service animals," the lawsuit said.

In its statement, Lyft said it had cooperated with the Justice Department in its review and had backed its policies requiring drivers to accommodate clients "with in-app tools, like letting riders tell drivers in advance that they’re traveling with a service animal and reminding drivers that refusing one is against the law."