U.S. Sues Uber Over Alleged Disability Discrimination

The U.S. Justice Department Wednesday sued ride-sharing service Uber Technologies Inc. over allegations of overcharging people with disabilities and asked a federal court to order the company to comply with a federal law protecting the disabled from discrimination.

The Justice Department's lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, takes aim against an April 2016 policy by Uber of charging passengers “wait time” fees — a practice started in several cities that was eventually expanded nationwide.

It alleges that the policy discriminates against people with disabilities, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, saying that disabled people such as the blind or those who use wheelchairs or walkers need more than two minutes to get into an Uber car.

The department is asking the court to order Uber to modify its wait time fee policy and pay monetary damages to those subjected to illegal fees.

Representatives for the company could not be immediately reached for comment.

Uber said its policy has been to refund wait time fees for disabled riders "whenever they alerted us that they were charged."

Last week, it said it updated the policy so that "any rider who certifies they are disabled will have fees automatically waived." -Reuters

November 11, 2021