The Department of Justice (DOJ) sued Uber on Friday, accusing the ride-hailing platform of discriminating against riders with disabilities by \u201croutinely\u201d denying service to wheelchair users and passengers with service dogs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The government alleges that drivers frequently refuse to provide rides to blind passengers with service dogs, canceling trips upon learning they are traveling with an animal. Occasionally, users have been forced to pay cancellation or cleaning fees as well, according to the complaint.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Some passengers with disabilities have been rejected by drivers who say they cannot store their wheelchairs, while others have encountered drivers who \u201cinsult and demean people with disabilities or ask them inappropriate questions,\u201d the DOJ alleges.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFor too long, blind riders have suffered repeated ride denials by Uber because they are traveling with a service dog,\u201d Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general of the agency\u2019s civil rights division, said in a statement. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis lawsuit seeks to end this persistent discrimination and allow riders with disabilities to use Uber,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n
The complaint detailed the experiences of more than a dozen riders who have encountered issues, arguing this conduct \u201cflows directly from and is exacerbated by Uber\u2019s broader failures to prevent discrimination against individuals with disabilities.\u201d The DOJ is seeking $125 million, according to a press release. <\/p>\n
Uber said in a statement that it \u201cfundamentally\u201d disagrees with the allegations in the case, underscoring that it has a \u201cclear zero-tolerance policy for confirmed service denials.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cRiders who use guide dogs or other assistive devices deserve a safe, respectful, and welcoming experience on Uber \u2014 full stop,\u201d it said. <\/p>\n
The company noted that every driver must acknowledge and agree to comply with its service animal policy and accessibility laws, adding it takes \u201cdecisive action\u201d after confirming violations, including permanently deactivating accounts. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe continue to invest in technology, training, and dedicated reporting channels \u2014 such as a 24\/7 service animal denial hotline \u2014 to ensure riders can quickly alert us so we can investigate and address issues,\u201d Uber said. \u201cWe remain deeply committed to expanding access and continuously improving the experience for riders with disabilities.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Department of Justice (DOJ) sued Uber on Friday, accusing the ride-hailing platform of discriminating against riders with disabilities by \u201croutinely\u201d denying service to wheelchair users and passengers with service dogs.\u00a0 The government alleges that drivers frequently refuse to provide rides to blind passengers with service dogs, canceling trips upon learning they are traveling with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":475,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globaltalentholding.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globaltalentholding.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globaltalentholding.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globaltalentholding.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globaltalentholding.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=473"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/globaltalentholding.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":474,"href":"https:\/\/globaltalentholding.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473\/revisions\/474"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globaltalentholding.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globaltalentholding.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globaltalentholding.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globaltalentholding.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}