Justice Department sues Uber, alleging disability discrimination

The federal government has filed a lawsuit against Uber, accusing the ride-hailing app of discriminating against passengers with disabilities, including those who use service dogs and wheelchairs.

Under the Americans With Disabilities Act, private transport companies are forbidden from discrimination based on an individual’s disability and must accommodate those with service animals or those who use stowable wheelchairs and mobility devices, the Justice Department said in a statement Friday.

But the case, filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleges that Uber and its drivers “routinely refuse to serve individuals with disabilities” and is seeking $125 million for affected passengers who have previously submitted complaints to Uber or the Justice Department.

The case accused the service and its drivers of imposing “impermissible surcharges” such as cleaning fees for animal shedding and cancellation fees after refusing service to riders. It also accused drivers of refusing “reasonable requests” including allowing passengers with reduced mobility to ride in the front seat if needed.

“For too long, blind riders have suffered repeated ride denials by Uber because they are traveling with a service dog,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement Friday. “This lawsuit seeks to end this persistent discrimination and allow riders with disabilities to use Uber.

The company said that it disagreed with the allegations made in the lawsuit and that all of its drivers must agree to follow its service animal and accessibility policies, according to the Associated Press. It added that it does not allow drivers to deny service to someone with a service animal and requires them to accept rides from people with disabilities as long as they can enter the vehicle on their own.

Uber did not immediately respond to an overnight request for comment from The Washington Post.

The lawsuit alleged that Uber “is aware of, but fails to prevent and remedy, disability-based discrimination throughout its transportation services,” and accused the company of failing to provide adequate training to drivers and customer service representatives about their obligations under the Americans With Disabilities Act, monitor its drivers to prevent discrimination or adequately compensate passengers who are denied service.

“Uber’s discriminatory conduct has caused significant economic, emotional, and physical harm to individuals with disabilities,” the Justice Department added in the suit, which named more than a dozen individuals it said were harmed by the company’s “discriminatory denials of service.”

In the case of two individuals, both of whom are blind and have guide dogs, the lawsuit included screenshots purporting to show Uber vehicles approaching them and then driving away as soon as the driver realized the passenger was traveling with an animal.

Many of the passengers said they had started to add in extra time to account for the delays they would experience in finding a driver who would agree to carry them. Two of the riders reported calling or threatening to call the police before a driver accepted their service animal.

The lawsuit also outlined the impact on the mental health of passengers with disabilities, who it said are often placed in “embarrassing positions” in front of others as they try to educate drivers about their obligations under federal law and Uber’s own policies. One passenger now “uses Uber less frequently than in the past because the ride denials cause her so much anxiety and make her feel dehumanized,” according to the document.

The lawsuit said that disabled passengers often have to pay more because of the denials - either due to having to pay for more expensive taxis or private drivers, being sent cleaning fees after traveling with their service animal or being charged for canceling a ride themselves after the driver refused to do so. Some passengers opt for less convenient travel arrangements, such as walking or relying on lifts from friends, or at times choose not to go out if Uber is the only transport option, the lawsuit said.

One individual, a veteran with chronic pain from nerve damage he sustained while serving in the U.S. military during the Gulf War, said he missed a flight after the driver refused to accept his service dog and could not find a new driver in time. He and his wife had to drive 16 hours home instead and the long driver caused his “chronic pain to intensify so much that when he finally arrived home he could not walk or stand. He spent most of the following five days in bed and was unable to work,” the lawsuit stated.

After spending more than $1,000 on the missed flight and rental car, the passenger filed a complaint with Uber and was offered $15 in credit - an offer he found “insulting,” according to the lawsuit.

In another case, in 2023, a driver refused to carry a seven-year-old child traveling with his family, because of his wheelchair. The company’s drivers often asked the child “questions about his disability that are rude, insensitive, and upsetting to him,” the lawsuit alleged.

Uber has faced previous lawsuits. In 2022, the Justice Department announced that the company would pay millions of dollars in compensation to more than 65,000 passengers over its “wait-time” fees, which it said discriminated against those with disabilities who required additional time to get into a vehicle.

In April, the Federal Trade Commission sued the company over its Uber One subscription service, which it said customers were enrolled in without their consent and had to navigate a “maze” of screens to cancel. Uber disputed the claims and said its sign-up process included disclosures that customers would be charged on a recurring basis.