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

Darla J. Rogers via nagdu nagdu at nfbnet.org
Tue May 20 18:26:43 UTC 2014


Dear Chair,

	Thank you for utilizing your media contacts to help make life more
accessible for those of us who choose to use guide dogs.
Darla & Hardworking Huck


-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Craig Heaps via
nagdu
Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2014 12:37 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] San Francisco man claims Uber refused ride with guide
dog

I thought you might like to know that I put Noelle onto that story when I
was still working at KTVU.  It came from information someone posted here on
the NAGDU mailing list.

Craig


----- Original Message -----
From: "Ginger Kutsch via nagdu" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2014 10:28 AM
Subject: [nagdu] San Francisco man claims Uber refused ride with guide dog


> 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."
>
>
>
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> 


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