[NJAGDU] FW: [NAGDU] Uber and Self-Identification

[carcione at access.net]

This email has some good points about Uber's proposed changes that affect us, as well as Mr. Riccobono's letter to Uber.
Tracy


-----Original Message-----
From: NAGDU <nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Curtis Chong via NAGDU
Sent: Monday, November 4, 2024 11:05 AM
To: 'Al Elia' <al.elia at aol.com>
Cc: Curtis Chong <chong.curtis at gmail.com>; 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users' <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Subject: [NAGDU] Uber and Self-Identification

Dear Al:

 

Thank you for your email, and thank you for being willing to engage in this important discussion on the topic of prior self-identification..

 

The issue of advance self-identification of guide dog users (which, in the context of Uber, I hope will always remain optional) is one which gives me more than a little concern. As long as I have been a member in the National Federation of the Blind (since 1969, I am proud to say), I have always supported the concepts embodied in the White Cane laws which we now have in all fifty states. Deeply imbedded in every one of these White Cane laws is the right of guide dog users to free and equal access to places and services to which all members of the public are entitled. Not until the current decade have we in the National Federation of the Blind contemplated the notion that guide dog users might need to place themselves on a list in order to avail themselves of services that everyone else is able to obtain without question--such as transportation in a taxicab or an airplane.

 

As for the self-identification question and Uber, I think, first of all, that we should all understand that self-identification, in and of itself, is neither a good nor a bad thing. What makes self-identification it a good thing is when Uber drivers never know that a person requesting a ride is using a guide dog until the driver and the passenger have been connected through the Uber app. When this connection is made and the driver then finds out that the person requesting a ride is using a guide dog, any ride cancellation or denial initiated by the driver becomes suspect and should, at a minimum, generate an investigation. If it is determined that the use of a guide dog was the reason for the cancellation, then the driver should be permanently removed from the Uber platform. 

 

If, on the other hand, self-identification enables the Uber driver to learn in advance that a passenger requesting transportation uses a guide dog or that the passenger is blind and if the driver then chooses not to accept the ride, the driver is shielded from the consequences of his/her discrimination against the passenger. This, in my view, is the worst form of implementation for the self-identification option.

 

In his November 1, 2024 letter to Uber, President Riccobono said, in relevant part:

 

"we learned last week that Uber intends to offer a default choice in the self-identification option to inform drivers of a rider’s service animal on the offer card prior to pairing. Providing this option, whether it is the rider’s choice or not, is unlawful. We will not support or condone such an option, and will publicly denounce Uber’s use of it and tolerance of the discrimination it fosters. Simply put, offering an option to disclose use of a service animal prior to pairing is unlawful."

 

In your email, you said, "I am currently participating in the selfID pilot. I have chosen the option to only identify me as a service animal user after pairing with a driver."

 

I am gratified that there is an option for you, the passenger, to identify yourself as a service animal user only after you are paired with the driver. That this option exists is a point in Uber's favor. However, the fact that this is not the default and only choice once the passenger has chosen to self-identify represents for me yet another reason for us in the National Federation of the Blind to continue regarding Uber with more than a little skepticism and certainly with a lot of suspicion. Uber is definitely not on our side when it comes to equal rights for guide dog users.

 

For convenience, I am placing the text of President Riccobono's letter to Uber after my name.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Curtis Chong

 

<Begin Excerpt>

 

Friday, November 1, 2024

 

In follow up to the National Federation of the Blind Rideshare Rally, President Mark Riccobono sent the following correspondence on October 31, 2024, to Uber regarding the implementation of self-identification.

 

Dear Mr. Byrne:

 

In our discussions with Uber during the past two years about the ongoing discrimination our members face when Uber drivers continue to deny them transportation based on their use of a guide dog service animal, we made several suggestions for how Uber could reduce such denials, and reduce the burden placed on riders in reporting denials. Among those, we suggested Uber provide an option for riders to save their use of a service animal in their profile/preferences and have the Uber platform inform drivers about those riders’ use of a service animal, alongside a reminder that the law and Uber policy require all drivers to transport riders with their service animals. We suggested the Uber system automatically suspend drivers who cancel rides after being informed that the rider uses a service animal, and automatically submit a denial complaint with the information about the denied rider, the denying driver, and other details necessary for an investigation that would result in the permanent deactivation of the denying driver.

We suggested the self-identification option in the belief that, even if some riders who use guide dogs choose not to use the option, they would benefit because the riders who do choose to use the option would help to more quickly identify and remove denying drivers, which would benefit everyone. That belief was and is premised on self-identification only identifying service-animal using riders to drivers after they are paired.

When Uber representatives informed us in late 2023 that they were planning to implement self-identification, in a way that would identify riders with service animals on the offer card presented to drivers before pairing, we indicated in the strongest terms that we and our members would not accept or support such a system, as it would enable drivers to choose not to pair with riders who use service animals, and effectively shield those drivers from the consequences of their discrimination against such riders. We left that conversation believing that Uber understood the importance of only identifying riders with service animals to drivers after pairing.

Unfortunately, we learned last week that Uber intends to offer a default choice in the self-identification option to inform drivers of a rider’s service animal on the offer card prior to pairing. Providing this option, whether it is the rider’s choice or not, is unlawful. We will not support or condone such an option, and will publicly denounce Uber’s use of it and tolerance of the discrimination it fosters.

Simply put, offering an option to disclose use of a service animal prior to pairing is unlawful.

The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits Uber from discriminating against riders “on the basis of disability in the full and equal enjoyment” of Uber’s services (42 U.S.C. §§ 12182(a) and 12184(a)). Uber may not “directly or through contractual or other arrangements, utilize ... criteria or methods of administration that have the effect of discriminating on the basis of disability; or that perpetuate the discrimination of others who are subject to common administrative control” (42 U.S.C. § 12182(b)(1)(D)). It may not apply “eligibility criteria that screen out or tend to screen out an individual with a disability or any class of individuals with disabilities from fully and equally enjoying” Uber’s services (42 U.S.C. § 12182(b)(2)(A)(i) and 12184(b)(1)). Finally, it must “make reasonable modifications in policies, practices, or procedures, when such modifications are necessary to afford” Uber’s services to riders with disabilities (42 U.S.C. § 12182(b)(2)(A)(ii) and 12184(b)(2)(A)).

By offering an option for riders to disclose their use of a service animal on the offer card prior to pairing with a driver, Uber uses a criteria or method of administration that has the effect of discrimination by providing drivers with an option to undetectably refuse to transport an identifying rider with a service animal. It also perpetuates the pervasive discrimination by drivers who deny riders with service animals, whether they use self-identification or not, because it does not in any way reduce the number of drivers on the Uber platform who refuse to transport riders with service animals. Rather, it allows them to do so with impunity. In contrast, identifying riders with service animals after pairing can result in the discipline and removal of drivers who discriminate, redounding to the benefit of all riders with service animals whether they self-identify or not.

Offering an option for riders to disclose their use of a service animal on the offer card prior to pairing with a driver also presents an eligibility criteria for driver pairing that screens out or tends to screen out riders with disabilities who use service animals from pairing with otherwise-eligible drivers who undetectably and unlawfully choose not to accept those riders. Uber must therefore modify its practice or procedure for self-identification to disclose riders’ use of service animals only after pairing so that driver-discrimination against those riders is weeded out.

We hope Uber will consider this and our prior statements about how self-identification must function and never identify a rider’s disability or use of a service animal until after they are paired with a driver.

Sincerely,

Mark A. Riccobono, President
National Federation of the Blin

 

<End Excerpt>

 

 

 

_______________________________________________
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/carcione%40access.net