A lever assembly (20) has a lever (24) mounted to a lever housing (22), a plunger (26), an auto-return housing (28) pivotable relative to the lever housing (22), a trigger mechanism (30) movable relative to the auto-return housing (28), and a yoke member (32) pivotable relative to the auto-return housing (22) independent of the auto-return housing. The trigger mechanism (30) is movable to an extended position in response to movement of the plunger (26) for engaging a cam element (12) of the steering column (10) for auto-return of the lever to a rest position. The yoke member (32) interacts with the plunger (26) when the plunger (26) pivots with the lever (24) to cause the yoke (32) to pivot toward an engaged position, and the yoke (32) interacts with the trigger mechanism (30) when the yoke (32) is pivoted to move the trigger mechanism (30) toward the extended position.