The Department of Justice announced this week it has filed a lawsuit against Lyft for discriminating against people with disabilities who have service animals and/or are wheelchair users, citing Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“Today, the Justice Department (Department) filed a lawsuit against Lyft Inc., for discriminating against passengers with disabilities, including those who use service animals and mobility devices such as stowable wheelchairs,” the DOJ said in its press release on Monday. “Lyft provides an important transportation option for millions of people throughout the United States. The lawsuit seeks $53 million for individuals with disabilities who Lyft has discriminated against, and who have submitted complaints to Lyft or the Department.”
The crux of the complaint is what the Justice Department describes as “Lyft and its drivers routinely [refusing] service to individuals with disabilities; impose impermissible surcharges by charging fees such as cancellation fees to riders whom Lyft has unlawfully denied service; and refuse to reasonably modify Lyft’s policies, practices, or procedures where necessary to avoid discriminating against riders with disabilities, including by denying individuals with mobility disabilities the option to sit in the front seat when needed.”
“Individuals with disabilities should be able to rely on rideshare services free of discrimination,” said Jesus A. Osete, acting assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, in a statement for the announcement. “We intend to uphold the ADA’s promise that people with disabilities are entitled to equal access in every part of public life, including essential transportation services.”
I have two thoughts on this news. First, it’s honestly surprising given this is the Trump administration’s DOJ. I wouldn’t peg Trump or his cronies to be bulwarks against discrimination towards marginalized people, but perhaps there are a lot of good eggs yet in the Justice Department. Second, the reality is the no service dog/no wheelchair discrimination is sadly commonplace. A little over two years ago, I wrote about this issue for my old Forbes column. A few months later, in February 2025—incidentally, a month after Forbes let me go from its contributor network for… reasons—Uber announced a feature enabling riders to self-identify their service animals from within the app. Indeed, the company made clear in the announcement, written by Chris Yoon, “drivers are prohibited from refusing service to riders with service animals or discriminating against them due to their service animal [and] any driver who violates this policy may permanently lose access to the platform.” For its part, Lyft has a setting in its app for denoting wheelchair access.
