www.businessofapps.comUber has come under fire after one of their drivers not only refused to take a woman in labour to hospital – he then charged her for his time.
According to Fortune, instead of taking David Lee and his pregnant wife to the hospital, the Uber driver refused to pick them up after the expectant mother retched on the pavement.
The incident took place in New York where public accommodation laws prohibit taxi drivers from discriminating on the basis of pregnancy, however the driver insisted he would lose $1000 (£700) a day if she was sick in the car.
txsurromom.blogspot.comThe couple pleaded with the driver, assuring him they would pay for any cleaning bills. Not only would the stubborn driver not budge – he charged them $13 (£9) for his lost time and drove away.
Fortunately the pair summoned another Uber car, which whisked them to the hospital where a healthy baby boy was born a few hours later.
The mother said:
I don’t blame Uber for one driver’s poor actions, since bad apples can appear in any organisation, but I do think that when a company has a culture of bullying their way past laws and regulations, as Uber seems to do, they begin to think they can act with impunity in anything.
txsurromom.blogspot.comThe couple did get their money back from the company and an Uber spokesperson said:
Denying service to a passenger in labor is unacceptable, it goes against our code of conduct and the standard of service our riders rely on.
We extend our deepest apologies to both riders and have taken action to respond to this complaint. We are glad that the rider’s next driver was professional and courteous.
To be fair, it does sound like the first guy was just a dick.
