u/AttitudePristine9260

My husband is a new Lyft driver in South Florida. Two passengers secretly filmed during a ride for prank content, sprayed a strong “fart spray” product inside the enclosed vehicle, and then refused to exit after the driver ended the ride and asked them to leave.

The video was later posted online and shows the driver’s face/voice and reaction. Lyft issued a cleaning reimbursement so far.

For drivers who have dealt with serious rider misconduct: what is the best way to escalate beyond basic support to Lyft Trust & Safety? Has anyone had Lyft take action against riders for filming/prank/harassment incidents? Did you file a police report first, or escalate through Lyft first?

My husband is a brand new Lyft driver in Fort Lauderdale, FL (literally his second day driving). He is 40, we’re a Hispanic gay couple, and he is new to the U.S.

He picked up two guys in their 20s who appeared to be normal passengers. During the ride, they secretly recorded him for prank content without his knowledge.

One of them sprayed a seemingly commercial fart spray inside our enclosed personal vehicle while filming to provoke a reaction, telling my husband that he had defacated. He became nauseous and the smell stayed in the car / on him the rest of the day.

When he told them to get out and ended the ride, they refused to leave and kept escalating the interaction. He had to get out of the vehicle and repeatedly tell them to leave. He did not know he was being filmed. They mocked him, so he said he’d call the police, and they told him to go ahead and call the police. They then started saying racist things and insulting him with racist and homophobic insults. Eventually they left.

We have now discovered that they posted it on TikTok on a prank account. The video shows my husband’s face, voice, and reaction, it shows them putting fart spray into the back the driver seat. It shows them refusing to leave. It does not show their racist/homophobic remarks.

Lyft only initially gave a cleaning reimbursement, which feels wildly inadequate given this was clearly a driver safety / harassment issue, not just “someone made a mess.”

Questions for other drivers:
\-Has anyone dealt with passengers secretly filming prank content?
\-If you were in our position, would you also file a police report?
\-Can anyone just corner Lyft drivers and use their reactions as content like this?
\-Does Lyft typically help us take action against people harassing their drivers this way?
\-If someone has indeed escalated something of this nature or taken something like this to court, did Lyft facilitate anything or did you need to hire a lawyer yourself?

My husband is a new Lyft driver in Broward County, Florida, he is a Hispanic male, 40, knows English but mainly speaks Spanish, and this happened to be his second day ever driving rideshare.
Two male passengers in their 20s ordered a Lyft, got into his privately owned vehicle, and secretly recorded a staged prank interaction without his knowledge.

During the ride, one of them sprayed a commercial “fart spray” / chemical odor product inside the enclosed vehicle to provoke a reaction for their prank content. My husband experienced nausea afterward and the smell remained in the vehicle / on him for the rest of the day. Lyft ended up covering the cost to clean his seat because it smelled after and he could not keep driving after the incident.

When my husband told them to get out and effectively terminated the ride, they refused to leave and continued escalating the interaction. My husband said he would call the police and one guy got out of the car. My husband then exited the vehicle and repeatedly told them to leave and told the one in the car to get out and that he was going to call the police. They taunted him, including telling him to go ahead and call the police and saying racist things to him.
Later, we discovered the incident had been posted on TikTok on a prank/social experiment account. The video shows my husband’s face, voice, and reaction.
They did not include their racist/homophobic statements in the video they posted online as it was composed of highly edited clips.
The account appears to post similar prank interactions with strangers.
Lyft only initially issued a cleaning reimbursement, but the broader safety/privacy issue was not fully escalated yet.

Questions:
- Does Florida’s recording law potentially apply to secretly recording audio/video in this situation?
-Could intentionally spraying a “fart spray “ substance causing nausea in an enclosed vehicle support battery or another claim?
-Does refusing to leave after the ride is terminated create trespass issues?
-Does posting his identifiable face/voice/reaction for prank content raise privacy / right of publicity concerns?
-What type of Florida attorney would be most appropriate for this? We do not have much money unfortunately.
-Is this a huge waste of time and effort? It feels wrong that someone could just target any uber or Lyft driver and do unpleasant things to them for content.

Location: Fort Lauderdale, FL

My husband is a new Lyft driver in Broward County, Florida, he is a Hispanic male, 40, knows English but mainly speaks Spanish, and this happened to be his second day ever driving rideshare.
Two male passengers in their 20s ordered a Lyft, got into his privately owned vehicle, and secretly recorded a staged prank interaction without his knowledge.

During the ride, one of them sprayed a commercial “fart spray” / chemical odor product inside the enclosed vehicle to provoke a reaction for their prank content. My husband experienced nausea afterward and the smell remained in the vehicle / on him for the rest of the day. Lyft ended up covering the cost to clean his seat because it smelled after and he could not keep driving after the incident.

When my husband told them to get out and effectively terminated the ride, they refused to leave and continued escalating the interaction. My husband said he would call the police and one guy got out of the car. My husband then exited the vehicle and repeatedly told them to leave and told the one in the car to get out and that he was going to call the police. They taunted him, including telling him to go ahead and call the police and saying racist things to him.
Later, we discovered the incident had been posted on TikTok on a prank/social experiment account. The video shows my husband’s face, voice, and reaction.
They did not include their racist/homophobic statements in the video they posted online as it was composed of highly edited clips.
The account appears to post similar prank interactions with strangers.
Lyft only initially issued a cleaning reimbursement, but the broader safety/privacy issue was not fully escalated yet.

Questions:
- Does Florida’s recording law potentially apply to secretly recording audio/video in this situation?
-Could intentionally spraying a “fart spray “ substance causing nausea in an enclosed vehicle support battery or another claim?
-Does refusing to leave after the ride is terminated create trespass issues?
-Does posting his identifiable face/voice/reaction for prank content raise privacy / right of publicity concerns?
-What type of Florida attorney would be most appropriate for this? We do not have much money unfortunately.
-Is this a huge waste of time and effort? It feels wrong that someone could just target any uber or Lyft driver and do unpleasant things to them for content.

Edit:
If we were to seek legal help, how would that even go? What costs could be associated? Could we lose a lot of money if in the end we’re not taken seriously?

Location: Fort Lauderdale, FL