Minnesota settlement with Lyft guarantees rideshares for people with a service animal nationwide
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The Minnesota Department of Human Rights announced a settlement with Lyft on Wednesday after drivers reportedly denied rides to a college student with a service animal.
Lyft has agreed to pay Tori Andres $63,000 after a state investigation found Lyft drivers canceled multiple rides requested by Andres between November 2021 and January 2023. Andres is blind and travels with a service dog.
The settlement requires Lyft to improve its policies, institute driver education and make updates to the Lyft app, with greater accountability for drivers who violate policies “by clarifying that they may be deactivated and therefore unable to continue driving for Lyft,” according to the department.
Lyft disputes that any violation occurred. The company says it has had policies prohibiting discrimination against people with service animals for nearly a decade — and that it did not agree to any policy changes as result of the settlement.
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“The commitments reflected in this agreement are practices Lyft has already had in place to help ensure that riders who rely on service animals are treated with the respect they deserve,” a Lyft spokesperson wrote in an email. “We remain committed to building a platform that is accessible, inclusive and welcoming for every rider.”
Andres, 23, attends Normandale Community College in Bloomington and competes at the national level for beep baseball, a form of baseball for visually impaired people.
The investigation revealed that in one instance, a Lyft driver hung up the phone and canceled a ride request after Andres’s mother told them about the service dog. In another case, Andres missed a medical appointment because two separate drivers canceled within minutes of each other after seeing the animal.
”I travel pretty much everywhere with my guide dog,” Andres said at a Wednesday press conference. “He is my eyes. He is my freedom. And he is why I am able to live independently.”
Commissioner Rebecca Lucero anticipates riders across the United States will benefit from the changes brought about by the settlement.
“Access to rideshares like Lyft is not a convenience,” Lucero said. “It is, in fact, a civil right.”
The Minnesota Department of Human Rights said it will monitor Lyft’s compliance with the settlement agreement for the next three years. As part of that, Lucero said Lyft will have to report on each canceled ride so officials can track if further intervention is needed.
Andres isn’t the only person to file complaints with the Department of Human Rights. Lucero said multiple disabled riders with service animals have been denied rides by rideshare companies and transportation providers in recent years.
“This is a much bigger problem, and we’re hoping that this case demonstrates that there needs to be better policies and training,” Lucero said. “We recommend that all businesses use this as an opportunity to look at their policies, training and accountability systems to make sure that it's being enforced correctly.”
