A service dog named Alfred sparked a Lyft settlement in Minnesota with nationwide reach

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Ride-sharing company Lyft will guarantee the right of blind and other passengers with disabilities across the country to travel with their service animals under a deal announced Wednesday in Minnesota.

Student Tori Andres turned to the Minnesota Department of Human Rights after several Lyft drivers refused to let her service dog, Alfred, accompany her. The agency investigated and determined the company was violating the state’s human rights law. The two sides then negotiated an agreement that included changes to driver training and updates to the Lyft app that will allow the agreement to apply nationally, not just in Minnesota.

“This case is a deeply personal thing for me because I travel almost everywhere with my guide dog,” Andres said at a news conference, as his black Labrador lay quietly by his feet, with only an occasional lick or yawn. “He is my eyes. He is my freedom and it is because of him that I can live independently.”

The conditions require Lyft to train its drivers on the rights of passengers with disabilities and warn them that they could be “disabled” and lose their ability to drive for Lyft if they break the law, state Human Rights Commissioner Rebecca Lucero told reporters. Drivers cannot cancel or refuse a ride because a passenger has a service animal or wheelchair, or because they have low or no vision, she said. The state will monitor Lyft’s compliance for three years, she added, and Andres will get a monetary settlement of $63,000.

“We hope that all runners in Minnesota, and indeed throughout the United States, will benefit from these changes,” Lucero said.

Lyft downplayed the settlement, however, saying it was not agreeing to any policy changes because the relief sought by the state was already in place. Lyft also disputed that the company violated the law, saying all of the alleged violations were the work of independent drivers.

“Discrimination has no place in the Lyft community,” the company said in a statement. “Lyft has maintained a strict service animal policy for nearly a decade, and independent drivers who violate this policy face serious consequences, including permanent deactivation. The commitments reflected in this agreement reaffirm the robust practices that Lyft already has in place to ensure that passengers who rely on service animals are treated with the respect they deserve.”

Recent changes to the Lyft app include the ability for riders to update their accessibility settings to notify a driver that they are traveling with a service animal and to report if they are denied service, the Department of Human Rights said. Lyft has agreed to follow up on each report of driver refusals.

Drivers who attempt to cancel or deny a ride to a passenger who has disclosed their service animal in the app will immediately receive an in-app message reminding them: “It is illegal to refuse a service animal” and that they risk being fired.

The state reached a settlement with Lyft without resorting to legal action. Lyft’s main competitor, Uber, the nation’s largest ride-hailing service, is not a party to the settlement. But Lucero said Minnesota’s human rights law binds all ride-sharing companies, including Uber. She said her agency frequently receives complaints against various transportation companies, but did not indicate that anything was currently in the works against the competitor.

“We recommend that all companies take this opportunity to review their policies, training and accountability systems to ensure they are properly implemented,” Lucero said.

Uber officials did not immediately respond to a request for details about their policies regarding service animals. Uber’s website states that service animals must be accommodated in accordance with applicable accessibility laws and the company’s service animal policy, which states that there are no exceptions due to allergies, religious objections or fear of animals.

The federal government filed a lawsuit against Uber in San Francisco last September, alleging it systematically refused to serve people with disabilities, including those accompanied by service dogs. A federal magistrate judge last week denied a motion by the company to dismiss the case.

“Access to rideshares like Lyft is not a convenience. It’s actually a civil right,” Lucero said.