[nagdu] Woman says cab driver refused her a ride because of seeing-eye dog

Tue Aug 6 16:43:23 UTC 2013

Make no mistake, it is against the law to refuse to take a blind person
accompanied by a guide dog.  In New York I have taken more than one cab
driver to the authorities because they refused to take me and Roselle.

There is no negotiation here.  If a cab driver refuses any of us we should
fight back. 

Best,

Michael Hingson

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of rhonda cruz
Sent: Tuesday, August 06, 2013 09:39 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Woman says cab driver refused her a ride because of
seeing-eye dog

 hi i always take a cab places and i never had that happen.
 or if it did i would call another driver.
 but those are my thoughts,

On Aug 6, 2013, at 8:38 AM, Rusty Perez wrote:

> Hi folks,
> about 13 years ago when I was in Dallas for a convention, I called a 
> cab late one night to drive me to my hotel. I waited for a long time
> and finally discovered that the cab had come  and driven off   when he
> realized I had a dog with me. The second cab which came a while later, 
> explained to me that some folks have a religeous objection to having 
> dogs in their cabs.
> I was pretty upset, but did nothing about it.
> Rusty
> 
> Rusty
> 
> 
> On 8/6/13, Ginger Kutsch <GingerKutsch at yahoo.com> wrote:
>> Woman says cab driver refused her a ride because of seeing-eye dog
>> 
>> By Bob Heye KATU News and KATU.com StaffPublished: Aug 2, 2013
>> 
>> http://www.katu.com/news/local/Woman-says-cab-driver-refused-her-a-ri
>> de-beca
>> use-of-seeing-eye-dog-218052101.html
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> PORTLAND, Ore. - A woman who is blind says a Broadway Cab driver 
>> refused her service because she had a seeing-eye dog with her.
>> 
>> It all unfolded at Union Station, and an Amtrak worker confirmed what 
>> happened to Deb Marinos.
>> 
>> Marinos had gotten off the train and was trying to get to OHSU for a 
>> scheduled checkup but a Broadway Cab driver, and then a second cab 
>> driver both refused to give her a ride.
>> 
>> "I have a little tiny bit of vision," she said. "I'm what's called 
>> legally blind, but I have no peripheral vision. So the dog provides 
>> me the ability to cross streets and find curbs and doors."
>> 
>> Marinos rides Amtrak all the time - commuting to work in Salem and 
>> Portland and also traveling the country to conferences and 
>> legislative assemblies in her job as a vocational rehabilitation 
>> counselor for the Oregon Council of the Blind.
>> 
>> She was stunned when she went to get into a Broadway Cab and the 
>> driver refused to let her in.
>> 
>> "And he says, 'No, she has a dog. I'm not takin' her. No dogs. Dogs 
>> aren't allowed by the company.'"
>> 
>> A second Broadway driver said he'd take her, but he already had a 
>> fare. The next cab back was a Sassy Cab, a subsidiary of Broadway Cab.
>> 
>> "The cab behind him, Sassy Cab, says 'No, I don't do dogs either,'" 
>> Marinos said. "And then the fourth cab got out to see what all the 
>> fun was about and they said, 'OK, we'll take you.'"
>> 
>> An Amtrak helper known as Red Cap argued with the cab drivers' refusals.
>> 
>> "Amtrak is so incredibly good at taking care of us, and the Red Cap 
>> today was just absolutely. He was just like all over them and could 
>> not believe it
>> - that they'd never had that before where they've had someone turned
down,"
>> Marinos said.
>> 
>> And if you think allergies to dogs is behind all this, Marinos said 
>> that's not a factor. She's allergic to dogs. Her service dog breed is 
>> hypoallergenic.
>> 
>> KATU didn't get a response from Broadway Cab Thursday night. City 
>> regulations say "No driver shall ... refuse to transport to his 
>> requested destination any passenger of proper demeanor who is able to 
>> demonstrate the ability to pay the fare."
>> 
>> Marinos met both of those requirements.
>> 
>> A city spokesperson said the city is starting a formal investigation 
>> into the incident and that Broadway Cab is cooperating with
investigators.
>> 
>> 
>> 
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> 
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