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

Is it? I think it falls squarely on the topic of "Uber drivers breaking the law and Uber choosing to not deal with it (to the detriment of riders) 'because contractors'", that is, just what TFA is about.

Yes, makes no sense that anyone can register their pet as emotional support.

I think anyone who has taken Uber and Lyft a lot knows that they allow drivers to abuse the system for their benefit, with no recourse for riders.

A few incidents that have bothered me: 1. Having an Uber refuse to take me to the airport from downtown Chicago 2. Lyft not giving me an automatic refund for a pickup in SOMA when the driver had been heading down 101 for 10 minutes and was showing no signs of turning around. 3. Every Uber driver cancelling rides at LAX to force surge pricing.

I'm not suprised that Uber drivers do not want to deal with riders with disabilities. Since Uber and Lyft are not profitable they can't even afford to kick any drivers off the platform other than drivers that pose a risk of physical danger to passengers.

Until Uber and Lyft implement a system that actually can result in negative consequences for unethical drivers, I have no sympathy for any losses these companies incur.

For service animals, it doesn't matter unless there is a specific reason.

https://www.adalive.org/episode5_qas#14

> Service animals are always permitted to accompany their users in any private or public transportation vehicle or facility. This means that they must be allowed to ride with the person with a disability.

> One of the most common misunderstandings about service animals is that they are limited to being guide dogs for persons with visual impairments. But dogs used as service animals are trained to assist people with a wide variety of disabilities, including individuals with hearing and mobility impairments.

> One more thing: charging extra fees to carry a service animal and an individual with a disability would also be a violation of the ADA.

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https://www.transit.dot.gov/what-americans-disabilities-act-...

> DOT ADA regulation 49 C.F.R. Section 37.167(d) requires transit entities to permit service animals to accompany individuals with disabilities in vehicles and facilities.

The cited part is https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/49/37.167

That section reads:

> (d) The entity shall permit service animals to accompany individuals with disabilities in vehicles and facilities.

“One driver allegedly cut her trip short after falsely claiming to have arrived at her destination.”

That’s particularly awful and cruel. It must be extremely disorienting and stressful for a blind person to be put in that situation.