Uber Undermines Safety, Discriminates Against Passengers, Lawsuit Says

In a new mass tort lawsuit, Boston taxi companies accuse competitor Uber of discriminating against riders and putting their safety in jeopardy.

A group of more than 40 Boston area taxi companies is bringing a bouquet of legal claims against defendant Uber Technologies Inc., the maker of an internationally-used and considerably profitable ride hailing smartphone app.

The plaintiff companies operate taxi services in the cities of Boston and Cambridge and the town of Braintree.

The Boston taxi companies allege that by skirting laws and regulations that apply to taxi companies, Uber discriminates against certain customers and undermines the reliability and safety that those legal frameworks are designed to provide.

The companies take issue specifically with the UberX ride hailing service. Uber launched UberX in 2013 as a lower-cost alternative to Uber Black cars and SUVs. Plaintiffs describe UberX as a “cut-rate, unlicensed taxi service.”

The plaintiffs claim Uber operations discriminate against entire classes of vulnerable riders. Passengers who don’t have credit cards are out of luck with Uber, whose app doesn’t function unless the user enters a credit card number. Uber drivers don’t accept cash, coupons or vouchers, the plaintiffs say.

Boston taxi drivers, on the other hand, are legally required to accept multiple forms of payment. In particular, the city offers taxi-specific coupons for the benefit of riders who are elderly or disabled, or who are suffering from cancer. Uber discriminates against these riders by failing to accept these coupons, the plaintiffs claim.

They claim Uber can also ignore taxi–specific laws that generally prohibit discrimination – including discrimination based on the passenger’s pickup location.

Passengers with no access to a smartphone are also victims of discrimination, as Uber affords them no other way to hail a ride, according to the plaintiffs.

Riders also benefit from laws that regulate taxi fares, the plaintiffs claim, preventing unscrupulous drivers from scamming passengers. Boston taxi meters themselves are heavily regulated.

Uber recognizes no such restrictions, they claim. The company charges allegedly illegal fares according to its own schedule, hitting customers with a per-mile or per-minute fee on top of a flat rate. Uber’s “surge pricing” exploits riders even more by raising fares during times of increased demand, the Boston taxi companies say.

They accuse Uber of purposely violating laws intended to keep conveyance-for-hire services safe for customers. These state and local laws set particular requirements for vehicle age, condition and equipment.

Applicants for a Boston taxi driver’s license must also meet stringent requirements designed to weed out those with records of bad driving, felony convictions, registration as a sex offender, or outstanding criminal prosecutions.

Uber drivers do not have to meet many of these requirements, plaintiffs say. The vehicles themselves are also not regulated as commercial vehicles-for-hire.

Unlike Boston taxi vehicles, those used by Uber drivers are not subject to any particular inspection requirement. Uber claims to inspect driver’s vehicles, the companies say, but it does not have any real inspection program in place.

These claims echo those recently raised in an Uber class action lawsuit in California by a San Diego taxi company. The plaintiff in that action claims Uber falsely and deceptively promotes its services as being safer than traditional taxi service.

The Boston taxi companies seek a damage award including actual and treble damages, reimbursement of attorney’s fees and costs of litigation, and any other relief the court deems appropriate.

They are represented by attorney Christopher G. Timson of the Law Offices of Christopher G. Timson PC.

The Uber Illegal Fares, Passenger Discrimination Lawsuit is Gill & Gill Inc., et al. v. Uber Technologies Inc., Case No. 1:16-cv-12651, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.