[nagdu] Cards and Laws was RE: Uber sued for allegedly refusing rides to theblindandputting a dog in the trunk

Nicole Torcolini ntorcolini at wavecable.com
Fri Sep 12 03:29:11 UTC 2014


>From what I can remember, I only showed the card that GDB gave me for Lexia
once. It was at the airport. For no reason, just as my mom and I were about
to board the plane, the lady at the desk started firing a million questions
at us about Lexia. I showed her the card because, had I not, we probably
would have missed the plane. If we had had more time to argue, then I
probably would not have shown the card. My mom called the airline
afterwards, but I doubt that anything actually happened. They kept trying to
give her a voucher to use with the airline. My mom said that she did not
want that; she wanted to make sure that what happened to us did not happen
to the next person with a service dog. If this type of stuff is illegal,
then why don't the laws include the penalties for it, and why aren't
entities required to respond to complaints instead of just shrugging it off?

Nicole and Lexia

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Larry D Keeler
via nagdu
Sent: Thursday, September 11, 2014 2:04 PM
To: Dan Weiner; NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog
Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Uber sued for allegedly refusing rides to
theblindandputting a dog in the trunk

Actually, I have had a few folks whom I've shown my ID and they relented. 
Also they will look at my school tag.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dan Weiner via nagdu" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
To: "'Abigail Bolling'" <violingirl30794 at gmail.com>; "'NAGDU Mailing
List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, September 11, 2014 12:44 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Uber sued for allegedly refusing rides to the
blindandputting a dog in the trunk


> Respectfully disagreeing, no one who has given me a hard time about 
> access ever cared whether I had an id card or not.
>
> If people want to be jerks, they do so without any conscience.
>
> Dan  Weiner'
>
> dcwein at dcwein.cnc.net
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Abigail 
> Bolling via nagdu
> Sent: Thursday, September 11, 2014 11:34 AM
> To: Ginger Kutsch; NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of 
> Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Uber sued for allegedly refusing rides to the 
> blind andputting a dog in the trunk
>
> The problem of explaining  that the dog is a service animal, I know 
> this may sound harsh, but as far as I know, the service animal schools 
> give there handlers ID cards for a reason. A lot of Dog users that I 
> know refuse to carry them, to which my opinion is a lot of situations 
> could possibly be avoided just by showing an ID card.
> I know we shouldn't have to show an ID card to make our point and it 
> is certainly annoying, but sometimes it is just easier to go that 
> extra stupid step to save a little headache later.
> Also, I know I said this on another post about this article, but it is 
> the responsibility of the handler to know where their dog is at all 
> times, so why did the handler let the dog be taken away from him and 
> placed in the trunk in the first place.
> Thanks,
>
> Abby and my little Shadow, Jada.
>
> Abigail Bolling
> Wright State University: Social Work
>
> "Keep a smile on your face and a song in your heart, and just let the 
> music play." (Julie Anderson Diamond)
>
>> On Sep 11, 2014, at 8:33 AM, Ginger Kutsch via nagdu 
>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> wrote:
>>
>> Uber sued for allegedly refusing rides to the blind and putting a dog 
>> in the trunk
>>
>> By Gail Sullivan September 10 Washington Post
>>
>> Source:
>> http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/09/10/uber-sue
>> d
>> -for-a
>> llegedly-refusing-rides-to-the-blind-and-putting-a-dog-in-the-trunk/
>>
>>
>>
>> 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.
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> nagdu mailing list
>> nagdu at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> nagdu:
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/violingirl30794%40
>> g
>> mail.com
> _______________________________________________
> nagdu mailing list
> nagdu at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> nagdu:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/dcwein%40dcwein.cnc
> .net
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nagdu mailing list
> nagdu at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> nagdu:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/lkeeler%40comcast.n
> et


_______________________________________________
nagdu mailing list
nagdu at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for nagdu:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/ntorcolini%40wavecable.co
m





More information about the NAGDU mailing list