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Disability rights advocacy groups slammed Uber with a class action alleging the ride service routinely discriminates against those with mobility disabilities.
The Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled, Taxies for All, and Disabled in Action, along with several individuals with disabilities allege in their class action lawsuit that 99.9 percent of Uber’s ride sharing services in New York are unusable by those with mobility disabilities.
“Uber has demonstrated a total disregard for the needs of people with disabilities in the provision of its transportation services and the anti-discrimination laws of New York City,” allege the plaintiffs in the Uber class action lawsuit.
The plaintiffs also claim individuals with disabilities are subject to increased wait times to use the service or are sometimes completely denied services from Uber. Although Uber says that it offers accessible vehicles, allege the plaintiffs, this is merely “window-dressing.”
“Having grown rapidly since it began operating in New York in 2011, Uber provides hundreds of thousands of rides a day in New York City, but for riders who need wheelchair-accessible vehicles, it provides vastly inferior service, or in many cases, no service at all,” the Uber lawsuit states.
“Uber claims it’s a revolutionary company, but it’s engaged in old fashioned discrimination against people with disabilities from its first day in New York City,” a representative for one of the disability advocacy groups involved in the class action lawsuit said in a statement. “Our lawsuit against Uber’s discrimination makes it clear: It’s 2017, not the 1950s, when it comes to equal access to transportation.”
According to the class action lawsuit, Uber shirks precedent established in 2013 in New York requiring all taxi cab services to have at least half of their fleets as accessible vehicles.
“Taxi and livery services like Uber are as much a part of New York City’s transportation network as buses and subways, which makes Uber’s discriminatory and illegal practices even more angering for potential customers like me,” said one of the plaintiffs in a statement.
“Uber’s technology has expanded access to reliable transportation options for all riders, including those with disabilities, and has enabled people with disabilities to earn income in new ways,” Uber shot back in a statement. “While there is certainly more work to be done, we will continue advocating for a solution that offers affordable, reliable transportation to those who need a wheel-chair accessible vehicle.”
According to Uber, the company offers 200 accessible vehicles in New York City under its UberX WAV program.
The plaintiffs allege that Uber’s current efforts are not enough and Uber’s lack of accessible vehicles violates New York City Human Rights Law.
The plaintiffs seek to represent a Class of New York City residents and visitors with mobility disabilities who have been discriminated against by Uber.
“Uber, which has a valuation of over $50 billion, has no excuse, other than its deliberate corporate decision to neglect people with disabilities who use wheelchairs, including many elderly people, for maintaining such an overwhelmingly inaccessible fleet,” allege the plaintiffs.
The plaintiffs are represented by Sidney Wolinsky, Michelle Caiola, Rebecca Serbin, and Maia Goodell of Disability Rights Advocates.
The Uber Accessibility Class Action Lawsuit is Brooklyn Center for Independence for the Disabled, et al. v. Uber Technologies Inc., Case No. 156434/2017, in the Supreme Court for the State of New York, County of New York.
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30 thoughts onUber Class Action Says 99.9% of Vehicles Inaccessible to Disabled Passengers
I agree I have a walker and a wheelchair
I was in a wheel chair and couldn’t get a ride I was upset
I know this is going to be unpopular…This is a ride share service…where people use their personal cars…it’s not a regular taxi service where the company provides vehicles. They are limited in the type of cars they have access to on the road, and they cannot require drivers to buy new cars to use their service (they’d have no one driving for them then). Disabled access cars are available, you just have to wait for one to get to you. Additionally, reserving vehicles with disabled service would either require the drivers to make far less money (why are they driving but to make money), or would still result in longer waits (a current complaint) as the number of disabled specific vehicles available would be stretched. Additionally, they are not the only ‘taxi’ service available. If Uber cannot meet your taxi needs, try another service….as was done before Uber was available.
You are so right. I sure hope Uber fights …Just for that REASON..We are not a taxi service or a bus system. We are Shari g OUR own car…to help others..gezzzs what people won’t do to make a buck from a law suite.
Need to pay more incentives to drivers to join Uber WAV program so these vehicles will be freely available to disable customers.
Also WAV pool option as these disabled persons are not discriminated.
I am disabled and use Uber occasionally. It can be difficult getting in and out of certain vehicles. Also I have never seen a request a vehicle for disabled person on their request a ride app.
Please include me in this suit
Replying to this article doesn’t put your name on the lawsuit…
And wouldn’t a petition to have Uber include a “Request disabled-friendly vehicle” in their app be a better move? Why do people jump to suing?
Because they are looking for money! Gezzzz…What did they do before UBER? May be they need to go back to that!
You need to remember. Uber is not a TaXI service…or a bus service. This is a shared ride programs. Before UBER WAS HERE WHAT DID YOU DO? Maybe you should go back to that. If Uber is not for you..JUst a thought. Ty
I feel that…
All cars@minivans should have disabled ready transporters……
Same problem in Florida and California
Uber and other ride share companies should have more disable accessible vehicles to serve the disabled.
In some business models you can loose in one service but gain in other services and recover and make a profit.
Same way Uber can loose serving the disabled but cover those from their other service like Uber pool, Uber X, and others.
They must give those drivers incentives if they enroll with a disable type vehicle. Also pay more for distance and time covered in a ride. But charge the disable rider with Uber pool or Uber X pricing without discrimination.
also a guaranteed payment for the time the disable access car owner keeps his app opened. As it is Efficient and economical to reserve those specialty cars reserved for disable riders.
Also a higher payment for the driver as those cars will have to travel more distance to pick up a disable passenger. as it is not the closest vehicle but this specialty vehicle which is has to go to pick up the disable rider.
This way Uber can reserve their disable vehicles to serve exclusively for the disabled.
Same problem in Georgia
I had the same problem with Uber in NC