500lb rapper sues Lyft 'after driver refused to take her over fears she'd burst his tires'
A plus-sized rapper has sued Lyft after claiming a driver refused to pick her up over fears she was too big to fit in his car and could 'burst his tyres'.
Dank Demoss, 36, real name Dajua Blanding, filmed her interaction with the Lyft driver earlier this month, showing her arguing back and forth over whether she could fit into his vehicle.
'I can fit in this car,' Demoss said.
'Believe me, you can't,' the driver responded in the clip.
Although the driver said he would refund her ride so Blanding wouldn't be charged for the trip, she sued the taxi service claiming she was discriminated against.
'I've been in cars smaller than that,' she told Fox2, 'I just want them to know that it hurt my feelings.'
After Blanding shared the video to her Instagram,many jumped to the driver's defense and said she should have listened to his recommendation to order a larger XL.
'It's against the law to overload a car,' one commenter said in response. 'The driver was very polite, he explained his valid reasons, and even apologized... try seeing things from another's perspective.'
In her video shared to social media, Blanding said in her caption that she felt 'discriminated' against by the Lyft driver.
'AM I WRONG? Lyft what have you all got to say about this driver (who) discriminated against me? I just feel like you all treat big people like s***. Like we don’t belong here.'
The rapper filed a lawsuit against the Lyft driver claiming she was unfairly treated, and said in her legal action that she suffered emotional distress and humiliation.
In her suit, Blanding says the driver pulled up in a Mercedes Benz sedan, but locked his doors and tried to drive away when he saw her.
When she confronted him, she says the driver told her she was too big to fit in his backseats and said his tires could not support her weight.
What do I have to do with your tires?' she was heard asking him in the clip.
Blanding's attorneys Jonathan Marko and Zach Runyan argued that the driver refusing to take her constituted discrimination because weight is a protected characteristic in Michigan.
'I knew that it was illegal, and I knew that it was wrong,' Marko told Fox 2, equating the refusal to pick Blanding up 'no different than refusing someone transportation based on their race or religion.'
Runyan added: 'Refusing someone transportation based on their weight is not only illegal, but dangerous... Imagine the consequences if Ms. Blanding were unable to seek shelter after the driver left her stranded. This could have ended even worse than it did.'
Although some commenters defended the driver and said Blanding attacked his livelihood, the rapper doubled down as she shared a defiant Instagram post days after her first clip.
Sharing a video of her in yoga shorts and a jacket, she captioned the post: 'Me trya get Lyft to not discriminate against my weight and let me in the car!
'Would you let me in?? Anyways meet me at the Sexxy Red afterparty.'
Blanding said in a past social media post she weighed over 500lbs, and previously shared in December that she was intending to lose weight and had lost over 40lbs.
In a statement, Lyft said the company 'unequivocally condemns all forms of discrimination.'
'We believe in a community where everyone is treated with equal respect and mutual kindness. Our community guidelines and terms of service explicitly prohibit harassment or discrimination.'
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