[nagdu] San Francisco man claims Uber refused ride with guide dog

[Ginger Kutsch via nagdu]

San Francisco man claims Uber refused ride with guide dog

Noelle Walker/KTVU 

Source:
http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/local/san-francisco-man-claims-uber-refused-ri
de-guide-d/nfzfF/

 

SAN FRANCISCO -  Two disability rights attorneys in the Bay Area are
investigating a "significant" number of claims that drivers for the ride
share company, Uber, are refusing to pick up blind passengers with service
dogs.

 

Timothy Elder, attorney with TRE Legal Practice, is one of the attorneys
looking into Uber's practices. "It's pretty clear this is well beyond one
rogue driver," Elder said. "This is a systemic problem."

 

Uber uses a smart phone app to allow passengers to act as their own
dispatchers.

 

San Francisco resident Jonathan Lyens says the first time he called for a
ride, "It showed up and the driver got out and told me he was going to make
an exception for me, but told me he didn't normally take dogs."

 

Lyens said his next Uber experience was worse. "I got a text saying, 'We're
sorry, your driver had to cancel the ride.'" He said that text came as he
was waiting on the sidewalk with his service dog, Benito. "As I'm reading
this, I heard a car start up and drive away, and I knew full well in my mind
that it was the Uber driver, seeing me with my guide dog, driving away,
choosing not to serve me."

 

Lyens said, his eyes getting teary, "It's almost a twist in the gut to know
that you're being discriminated against for being who you are."

 

Uber drivers use their personal vehicles to offer public rides and that's
where there seems to be some gray area.

 

Michael Nunez, attorney with Disability Rights Advocates, says Uber should
be subject to the same regulations as a bus or taxi. "As a transportation
provider, Uber and other public transportation providers are required to
provide equal access to people with disabilities," Nunez explained.

 

"We're not asking for anything major here. We want to be their customer,"
Lyens said. "We want to give them our money, and in order to do that, we
need to get inside the car."

 

Late Monday afternoon, Uber released the following statement to KTVU
regarding the refusal of service claims: "Uber will deactivate driver
partners from the Uber platform who refuse to transport a rider with a
service animal. Uber welcomes service animals and we are proud that our
platform increases the mobility and freedom of blind and vision-impaired
users."