Uber announced today that it has proposed a settlement with the National Federation of the Blind California chapter. The technology company has asked a judge to approve the deal in which Uber will not only publish a service animal policy and educate drivers on it, but also pay the organization $225,000 over three years and permit it to “run a testing program to evaluate the effectiveness” of these changes.
In a lawsuit filed in 2014, the National Federation of the Blind along with riders Michael Kelly, Michael Hingson, and Michael Pederson sued Uber over violation of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). They alleged that the company denied rides to passengers with service animals.
The plaintiffs contended that “In response to complaints lodged with Uber about these allegations, Uber allegedly fails to respond, does not take steps to address the discrimination, and frequently denies responsibility for the discrimination.”
As a result of the proposed settlement, Uber said that it will make it clearer to drivers on its platform that they are “obligated to transport any passenger with a service animal.” What’s more, if a judge accepts the deal, Uber will modify its driver app to display a pop-up that will remind them of this “obligation” as well as send email reminders.
Those drivers that refused to provide service to these passengers will be barred from the platform, the company wrote in a blog post.
To ensure that Uber is keeping its word, it’s been proposed that the National Federation of the Blind oversee these changes, essentially functioning as a watchdog by having riders with service animals test to see if Uber has made good on its word.
Whether these changes are effective just in California or wherever Uber operates remains unclear from the company’s post. We’ve reached out to Uber for clarification and will update this post when we hear back.
Although the suit was filed in 2014, only now is it coming to a close as Uber reportedly contended that any disputes between in and passengers were to be handled through arbitration and not through the court. However, in 2015, a judge didn’t buy that argument and ordered the case move forward. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, U.S. Magistrate Nathanael Cousins ordered both sides this week to “file terms of the proposed settlement within a week or prepare to go to trial.”
Over the past few weeks, Uber has made it a point to tout the effort it has done to help everyone become a driver, including military veterans and their loved ones, and those that are hearing impaired. But while it’s promoting itself as more inclusive, there are some drivers that it seems don’t buy into that and have opted to be more selective in who they provide service to.
And Uber isn’t the only one that’s been accused of discrimination against disabled passengers, not just those with service animals. Its main U.S. competitor Lyft has also been on the receiving end of lawsuits.
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