SAFR NOW PLAYING FAIR FARE

Women-only riders nixed

Controversial and questionably legal ride-for-hire app Safr, which has said since last year it will only allow women drivers and riders, will actually accept riders and drivers of both sexes, according to the fine print on its website.

“Safr’s primary focus is on the safety and empowerment of all women in the ridesharing economy and we welcome all riders who believe in and support that mission,” the company said in an FAQ section in response to whether men can ride. “Safr does not discriminate on the basis of gender or any other characteristic protected by law.”

The company said the same goes for drivers.

“We welcome everyone to our team who believes in and supports that mission,” the FAQ says.

Last month, Safr spokeswoman Joanna Humphrey Flynn told the Herald women would be picking up other women once Safr launches in March.

“It will be only women who can request rides at this time,” Flynn said.

Bronwyn Roberts, an attorney with Duane Morris, said a small disclaimer does not address discrimination concerns.

“You can’t solve our social and economic problems with discriminatory policy,” Roberts said. “This is a situation where a private company is trying to solve a public problem with policies that offend our anti-discrimination statute in Massachusetts.”

Flynn said an invite-only trial would begin soon, but it is unclear whether that has begun.

Flynn and other representatives did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Safr had brushed aside legal concerns over a service that only hires women as drivers and only picks up women passengers, but had not detailed its legal strategy except to say its lawyers were working to make sure Safr complies with the law and it expects to be on solid legal ground.

In 1996, a Boston man sued Healthworks, a women-only health club across the street from his house, asking to be allowed to use the facilities. The man, James J. Foster, eventually won in court when women-only health clubs were declared discriminatory under state law.

But soon after the decision, legislators moved to add an exception for fitness centers.

Safr’s public plan has also drawn criticism for encouraging separation between genders instead of working to make sure all ride-for-hire services are safe.

“MassNOW has been consistently skeptical of single-sex facilities.” said Sasha Goodfriend, co-president of the Massachusetts chapter of the National Organization for Women. “We believe we should be working to make all spaces safe for women, not making 50 percent of spaces safe for women.”