Nationwide — Dajua Blanding, a Detroit rapper often called Dank Demoss, is suing a Lyft driver for refusing her a experience due to her dimension. The motive force, who arrived in a Mercedes Benz sedan, reportedly locked his doorways and tried to drive off when he noticed her.
Blanding, who had requested a experience to a Detroit Lions watch occasion, confronted the motive force whereas recording the encounter. “I can match on this automobile,” she might be heard saying, to which he responded, “Consider me, you possibly can’t.”
The motive force informed her she was too large to slot in the backseat and that his tires couldn’t deal with her weight. He provided to refund the experience and instructed she e book a bigger car as a substitute.
“I’ve been in vehicles smaller than that,” she informed FOX 2 Detroit. “I simply need them to know that it harm my emotions.”
Blanding has since filed a lawsuit, arguing the motive force’s refusal violated Michigan regulation, which protects in opposition to weight-based discrimination. Her attorneys, Jonathan Marko and Zach Runyan, state that denying a experience based mostly on weight is not any completely different from discrimination based mostly on race or faith. They are saying Lyft drivers can refuse rides for safety causes however can not discriminate in opposition to legally protected traits.
Lyft has been served with the lawsuit. Of their assertion, the corporate condemned all types of discrimination, saying, “We imagine in a group the place everyone seems to be handled with equal respect and mutual kindness. Our group pointers and phrases of service explicitly prohibit harassment or discrimination.”
In the meantime, some individuals who commented on Blanding’s Instagram posts have defended the motive force, claiming that Blanding was threatening his livelihood. One individual wrote, “I hope the motive force additionally information a lawsuit, he’s the actual sufferer on this.”
“There’s a distinction from precise discrimination & frequent sense. I imply hearken to the person’s automobile…I personally don’t suppose he needed to be offensive however actually needed to not enable the service along with her. I’m sorry she skilled this however that is NOT a lawsuit,” one other individual mentioned.
