A judge in Chicago denied a rideshare driver’s request to be exempt from wearing a face covering while driving passengers around. As of an April 30 executive order, all individuals in Illinois are required to wear face covers when social distancing guidelines cannot be practiced in public spaces.

Justin Mahwikizi filed a temporary restraining order on May 6 in an attempt to prevent the state from enforcing the face covering policy on him. In his request, Mahwikizi contended that wearing a face covering while driving could lead to his losing consciousness and potentially colliding with other vehicles. Additionally, he argued that he could be harmed by rideshare passengers who object to the face covering rules or he could be targeted by gangs for unknowingly wearing certain coverings.

On May 1, 2020, a California appellate court upheld a win for Lyft in a lawsuit brought by two people who were injured in a collision with a Lyft driver. At the time of the accident, the Lyft driver was driving home from a separate job. The vehicle they were driving was rented as part of a Lyft program.

According to the First District Court of Appeal, Lyft could not be held liable under the doctrine of respondeat superior. This doctrine specifies that employers can only be held legally responsible for the actions of their employees when they are committed with the scope of employment.

As local governments across the country ease COVID-19 restrictions, the rideshare company Lyft is implementing new policy changes to ensure the safety of its drivers and passengers. The policies include new health and safety standards for ridesharing.

Uber made face masks mandatory for drivers and riders last week. Now, Lyft is now taking similar steps in an effort to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. In a company blog post, Lyft said it’s Health Safety Program will include personal health certifications for drivers and riders, required face masks for drivers and riders, health safety education for drivers and riders, and distribution of cleaning supplies and masks for drivers.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to prevent rideshare drivers from working and making money, some are having trouble accessing unemployment benefits.

Multiple rideshare drivers shared their stories with CBS2 in Chicago. All applied for unemployment benefits but were told they did not qualify and were denied.

According to NPR, the state of California is suing Uber and Lyft for classifying their drivers as contractors, as opposed to employees. This lawsuit will test the new state law, AB5, which was intended to give gig workers like rideshare drivers more labor protections—including access to employer-sponsored health insurance.

In an effort to achieve recovery, the state is seeking penalties that could reach hundreds of millions of dollars, in addition to restitution to hundreds of thousands of rideshare drivers in California.