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Uber ordered to pay $1.1M to blind woman refused rides

bbc.com

111–120 of 502 posts

Re: Uber ordered to pay $1.1M to blind woman refused rides

#111
post #10

> It rejected Uber's claim that the company itself was not liable, because, it argued, its drivers had the status of contractors rather than employees. Another example of how rideshare companies attempt to offload risk and liability onto individual drivers who are generally unprepared and unaware that this is happening. Insurance is a more important example (most rideshare drivers are not properly insured), but this…

Are you saying that the drivers didn't know what they were doing to this woman was wrong?

Or are you claiming Uber told the drivers to mistreat her?

Re: Uber ordered to pay $1.1M to blind woman refused rides

#112

She didn't get $1.1m, the settlement was $324,000 in damages plus legal expenses of $805,313. That kind of changes the narrative in my opinion.

Lawyers gotta eat so they can chase them ambulances ...

It seems like a lot, but if they are only paid when they win, the price has to take into account the risk they are taking by going up against a company like Uber that has a huge vested interest in not losing cases like this. If their chance of success going in is 25%, expenses are $100k, 2-3 lawyers contributed etc. it doesn’t seem like such a case of highway robbery (no idea if these numbers are realistic)

Re: Uber ordered to pay $1.1M to blind woman refused rides

#113
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not that I plan to, but if I did, I'd be able to pick up a lot of the slack of rides without dogs so that other drivers could pick up the dog rides. I'm sure many drivers are more than willing. I don't see how this isn't a win-win for them to allow it but give each driver a preference.

Because it's discrimination against people with disabilities and per the ADA illegal.

So if I really need the cash, I need to risk my life and the customer's life in the name of ADA compliance ...

Re: Uber ordered to pay $1.1M to blind woman refused rides

#114
post #50

The real problem here is Uber/Lyft not accounting for this in their app. As someone who takes rideshare with a small child who needs a car seat, I've had similar issues. A person with a dog will need extra time getting in and out, and the driver will need extra time to clean the car and remove any dog hair or other stains or spots. A person with a carseat like myself needs extra time to get into and out of the car wh…

Why shouldn't they have the option to reject the ride? What if they're allergic, or deathly afraid of dogs? I have a friend like that. Anything bigger than a chihuahua and she'd probably flee the vehicle before driving it anywhere. Being able to reject work you can't handle seems like the one silver lining of being "independent contractors".

You can’t reject work for reasons that are illegal.

Re: Uber ordered to pay $1.1M to blind woman refused rides

#115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Work on yourself. That's the only way

No. I shouldn't have to be around dogs. My fear is justified and I don't need to work on myself. Service robots are fine with me. But I shouldn't have to be forced to be around dogs. If someone was deathly allergic to peanut butter would you force them to drive Uber while passengers eating peanut butter sandwich in the back? And tell them to "work on themselves"?

Eating peanut butter sandwich isn't protected by law. Having service dogs is.

Re: Uber ordered to pay $1.1M to blind woman refused rides

#116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Presumably not. Even if they did, what should they do with that information? Service dogs have special status.

How does this work for workers with dog allergies?

That is not a valid reason to deny service according to this:

https://www.ada.gov/service_animals_2010.htm

Re: Uber ordered to pay $1.1M to blind woman refused rides

#117
post #99
post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The way you phrase it makes it sound like a UI issue. It is probably more accurate to say that Uber chooses to not provide this sort of functionality.

I mean, I'd call it a UX issue, where the U here is both the driver and the passenger. There is no way for me to tell the driver I have a car seat, and there is no way for the driver to get extra compensation for it. Now that they've added tipping I can at least tip them extra, but they don't know that until after they give me a bad rating for "wasting their time".

Op is saying implementing that is a minor inconvenience for Uber. If they wanted you to be able to tell the driver, it would take them a couple of weeks.

Re: Uber ordered to pay $1.1M to blind woman refused rides

#118
post #78

I'm surprised that the law requires you to allow dogs in your car. It's one thing for a public space, but for a private service it seems like it should be okay to have a no-dogs-allowed rule.

You can have a no dogs rule. You just can't have a "No service dogs" rule. Service dogs are essential to the welfare of their humans, denying them would be like having a "no glasses" or "no canes" or "no pacemakers" rule disallowing folks who need assistance.

Yes, there are limits, especially if the area is dangerous or the dog is disruptive, but generally that dog should be considered to be a tool the human is using.

Re: Uber ordered to pay $1.1M to blind woman refused rides

#119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The drivers represent the company and all interactions with the driver are setup through the company. So, yes. ie: If a driver snatches my backpack and drives away, I expect Uber to replace/return what was stolen from me by their contractor. Not for them to just tell me to take a hike and deal with it myself.

So there is absolutely nothing a company can do to absolve themselves of the poor behavior of employees? By that system, Uber would still be at fault if they explicitly told all drivers "you are not allowed to deny service to someone with a service dog under any circumstances", and a driver did anyway.

It's called the cost of doing business.

Re: Uber ordered to pay $1.1M to blind woman refused rides

#120
post #50

The real problem here is Uber/Lyft not accounting for this in their app. As someone who takes rideshare with a small child who needs a car seat, I've had similar issues. A person with a dog will need extra time getting in and out, and the driver will need extra time to clean the car and remove any dog hair or other stains or spots. A person with a carseat like myself needs extra time to get into and out of the car wh…

It's not the service animals that are the problem, is the "emotional support" animals, or more specifically, their owners.
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