Bolt driver warned after refusing passenger with assistance dog

A Bolt ride hailing driver has been warned for discriminating against a woman with a disability who was travelling with an assistance dog, LRT reported.

Lithuania’s Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson issued the warning after investigating the woman’s complaint. She said the driver refused to let her into the car after seeing the dog and behaved aggressively, shouting at her and ordering her to leave.

“He immediately started shouting at me and forcing me out. I tried several times to explain that it was an assistance dog, which he was required to carry under Bolt’s rules and other laws, but the driver continued to refuse,” the woman wrote in her complaint.

The driver told the office that he had refused the trip because he was allergic to dogs. He also claimed that the dog had entered the car and dirtied its interior, and that he had not been informed that the passenger would be travelling with a dog.

Bolt told the office that drivers are not allowed to refuse passengers with assistance dogs and that they have been informed of the rule. However, the company said an exception should apply to drivers with animal allergies. Such drivers must notify customers before the trip and contact Bolt’s support team, it said.

Bolt added that it had opened an internal investigation into the incident and temporarily suspended the driver’s account. The Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson issued the warning for violating Lithuania’s Law on Equal Opportunities.