[blindlaw] Uber sued for allegedly refusing rides to the blind and putting a dog in the trunk, The Washington Post, September 10 2014

[Tim Elder]

Our legal team is currently collecting additional stories of passengers with
service animals who experienced discrimination by Uber drivers.  We are
documenting incidents both in and out of California.  Don't hesitate to
contact me if you would like to report an incident or share your experiences
with Uber and a service animal.

Regards,

Tim Elder
www.Trelegal.com




-----Original Message-----
From: Nightingale, Noel [mailto:Noel.Nightingale at ed.gov] 
Sent: Thursday, September 11, 2014 2:59 PM
To: nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org; blindlaw at nfbnet.org
Subject: [blindlaw] Uber sued for allegedly refusing rides to the blind and
putting a dog in the trunk, The Washington Post, September 10 2014


Link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/09/10/uber-sued-for-a
llegedly-refusing-rides-to-the-blind-and-putting-a-dog-in-the-trunk/

Text:
Uber sued for allegedly refusing rides to the blind and putting a dog in the
trunk By Gail Sullivan September 10

An advocacy group for the blind is suing the app-based ride-sharing service
Uber, alleging the company discriminates against passengers with service
dogs.

The federal civil rights suit filed Tuesday by the California chapter of the
National Federation of the Blind cites instances in California and elsewhere
when blind Uber customers summoned a car only to be refused a ride once the
driver saw them with a service dog. In some cases, drivers allegedly
abandoned blind travelers in extreme weather and charged cancellation fees
after denying them rides, the complaint said.

The complaint filed in a Northern California District Court cites one
instance where a California UberX driver put a service dog in the trunk and
refused to pull over when the blind passenger realized where the animal was.

On another occasion a passenger was trying to explain that his dog was not a
pet but a service animal when the driver allegedly cursed at him and
accelerated abruptly, nearly injuring the dog and striking the passenger's
friend, who is also blind, with an open car door.

The group said it's aware of more than 30 times blind customers were denied
rides in violation of the American with Disabilities Act and California
state law.

As a result, blind passengers are confronting unexpected delays and "face
the degrading experience of being denied a basic service that is available
to all other paying customers," the complaint said.

Services such as Uber are quickly supplanting traditional taxis, a service
blind people rely on due to the limitations of public transportation.

The National Federation of the Blind wants Uber to educate its drivers about
disability rights and punish the violators in addition to providing a way
for disabled passengers to immediately register complaints when they are
refused rides because of service dogs.

In a statement reported by the San Francisco Examiner, Uber said its policy
is to terminate drivers who refuse to transport service animals. "The Uber
app is built to expand access to transportation options for all, including
users with visual impairments and other disabilities," the statement said.

However, Uber allegedly told some passengers it can't control what drivers
do because they are independent contractors. The company advised them to let
drivers know about their animals ahead of time, said the Federation, which
filed suit after Uber rejected its request to negotiate a solution.

The group claims the company closely monitors and controls its drivers by
managing payments and services through the app, and by assessing driver
performance based on customer feedback.

In September 2013,California's Public Utilities Commission classified UberX
as a transportation provider because it functions like a taxi dispatch. The
commission also said that UberX may not discriminate against the disabled,
the Federation noted.

Figuring out whether to treat Uber like a traditional taxi service or
something else is the subject of heated debate across the country. Taxi
services are required by federal law to serve the disabled, even if drivers
are independent contractors.

Gail Sullivan covers business for the Morning Mix blog.