How to File a Human Rights Complaint as a Driver

In short: to make a discrimination complaint count, you need a verified complaint with the NYC Commission on Human Rights, filed within one year of the last discriminatory act (three years for gender-based harassment). The Commission's online "Report Discrimination" form is a useful first step, but it is not an official complaint and does not stop the deadline. Call 311 (say "human rights") or 212-416-0197 to book a free intake appointment.

This guide is about you, the driver, as the person who was treated unfairly: by an app, base, fleet, garage, landlord or anyone else the city law covers. If a passenger complained about you, read discrimination complaints against TLC drivers instead. To learn whether the law covers your situation at all, start with NYC Human Rights Law protections for drivers.

Report form vs. verified complaint

This is the trap: if you only fill out the online form and wait, your deadline keeps running.

The form itself makes you tick a box that says, in the Commission's words: "filling out this form is not an official complaint." The same box warns that "the statute of limitations does not stop until a verified complaint is signed, notarized, and mailed or personally delivered to the Law Enforcement Bureau." You are responsible for watching that deadline.

The deadlines

Don't wait until month eleven. Intake appointments take time to schedule, and a verified complaint needs a notary.

Step by step

1. Collect your evidence

Write a short timeline the same day if you can. For app and base problems, take screenshots of messages, account notices and any deactivation or "account restricted" screens before they disappear. If someone saw what happened, get their name and phone number. The same habits that help at an OATH hearing help here; see witnesses at an OATH hearing for how to ask a witness for a statement.

2. Book the intake

The Commission's contact page says to call 311 and say "human rights" or 212-416-0197 to schedule a new appointment or report an incident. The main office is at 22 Reade Street, New York, NY 10007. If you go in person, bring photo ID to enter the building.

3. The interview and the verified complaint

At intake, staff discuss your allegations, according to the complaint process page. The Commission's own deadline notice explains when a complaint becomes official: once it is a verified complaint that is signed, notarized, and mailed or personally delivered to the Law Enforcement Bureau. Ask staff to confirm the date your verified complaint was received, and keep a copy.

4. If you have a lawyer

A lawyer can file a verified complaint for you by mail to 22 Reade Street, 3rd Floor, following the Commission's Rules of Practice, along with the Commission's intake form (requested from LEB@cchr.nyc.gov).

Is it discrimination, or another kind of unfair treatment?

The Commission handles treatment that happened because of a protected trait, such as your race, religion, national origin, immigration status, disability or gender, or because you complained about discrimination. Not every unfair act is that. An app deactivation with no explanation, a lease overcharge, or an unpaid trip is unfair, but it is a human rights case only if the reason was a protected trait. Other problems have other offices: money disputes with bases and owners go to TLC's Driver Protection Unit, and deactivations go through the app's appeal process.

Clues that a protected trait was the reason include comments about your accent, religion or country; rules applied to you but not to other drivers; or a change in treatment right after you asked for a religious or medical accommodation. Write each one down with the date.

A worked deadline example

Say a base dispatcher made remarks about your religion in January and the base stopped sending you trips on March 10. The last act is March 10, so a verified complaint must reach the Law Enforcement Bureau by the following March. If you fill in the online form in April and hear nothing, your clock is still running. Calling 311 for an intake appointment in April keeps you well ahead of the deadline.

Things that can block your complaint

• Filing elsewhere first. You cannot file with the Commission if you already filed a discrimination complaint on the same facts with another court or agency, such as the NYS Division of Human Rights, the U.S. EEOC, HUD, or a state or federal court. Unemployment insurance and workers' compensation claims are not counted, so a Black Car Fund workers' comp claim does not block you.
• Missing the deadline. The online form doesn't count.
• EEOC for employment claims. The Commission no longer automatically cross-files employment claims with the EEOC. If you might want federal court later, the Commission says to file with the EEOC too (1-800-669-4000). Whether federal employment law covers an independent-contractor driver is a legal question; ask a lawyer.

You are protected from retaliation

The Commission's law page says it is illegal for anyone the law applies to, including the companies you work with, to retaliate because you opposed discrimination, filed a complaint, or took part in an investigation. You are protected as long as you had "a reasonable good faith belief" that the conduct was illegal, even if you turn out to be wrong. Retaliation is a separate violation you can add to your complaint.

TLC rules also forbid retaliation by owners, bases and app companies when a driver makes a good-faith complaint to TLC; see can my owner or base retaliate.

Free help

• Commission services are free. You don't need a lawyer to file.
• TLC victim services. TLC's driver resources page says staff help drivers who were attacked to file discrimination complaints with the Commission and police or hate-crime reports. Email inclusion@tlc.nyc.gov; call 911 if you are in danger.
• Free legal hotlines that TLC lists, such as the City Bar Justice Center (212) 626-7383 and Legal Services NYC (917) 661-4500. See free legal help for NYC drivers.

For the bigger picture of what rights you have and who enforces each one, see know your rights as a TLC driver and the driver rights hub. This page is general information, not legal advice.