Uber ordered to pay $1.1 million to blind passenger who was denied rides on 14 occasions

Ride-hailing giant Uber has been fined $1.1 million after several of its drivers discriminated against a blind passenger and unlawfully denied her rides on 14 occasions, said an independent arbitrator on April 1. According to the Insider report, the arbitrator rebuffed Uber’s position that it was not liable for the behaviour of the drivers associated with its service and cited the status as contractors. 

As per the report, Lisa Irving living in San Francisco Bay Area who is blind and uses a guide dog claimed in 2018 against Uber that “she was either denied a ride altogether or harassed by Uber drivers not wanting to transport her with her guide dog.” As a result of the discrimination, Irving was left stranded late at night, which often made her later to work and eventually led to her firing. Irving also claimed that twice the Uber drivers bullied and verbally abused her. Further, the derogatory behaviour of the drivers did not cease even after her complaining to the rideshare giant.

In a statement to the publication, one of Irving’s lawyers, Catherine Cabalo said, “Of all Americans who should be liberated by the rideshare revolution, the blind and visually impaired are among those who stand to benefit the most...However, the track record of major rideshare services has been spotty at best and openly discriminatory at worst. The bottom line is that under the Americans with Disabilities Act, a guide dog should be able to go anywhere that a blind person can go.”

Uber did not disagree with the arbitrator’s decision

As per the report, Uber said that it did not categorically disagree with the arbitrator’s decision of asking the company to pay $1.1 million to the blind passenger. In a statement to the Guardian, an Uber spokesperson said that the company is “proud” to have assisted those who are blind in locating as well as obtaining rides. It further said, “Drivers using the Uber app are expected to serve riders with service animals and comply with accessibility and other laws, and we regularly provide education to drivers on that responsibility” before adding that the team at Uber takes all complaints into consideration to take action.

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