From PC Mag: Uber this week agreed to pay millions to settle a lawsuit that accused the rideshare firm of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by charging wait-time fees to riders with disabilities who needed extra time to get to their cars.
More than 65,000 users will receive compensation after being charged wait-time fees for taking more than two minutes to enter an Uber car, despite needing additional time for, say, breaking down and storing a wheelchair or walker.
Uber in 2016 began charging customers in certain locations a per-minute penalty if the driver was left waiting for more than two minutes at the pick-up location. But the complaint, filed in November by the Department of Justice, claims Uber violated the ADA by failing to "reasonably" modify its wait-time fee—even when it was aware of a passenger's need for additional time.
"People with disabilities should not be made to feel like second-class citizens or punished because of their disability, which is exactly what Uber's wait-time fee policy did," Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, said in a statement. "This agreement sends a strong message that Uber and other ridesharing companies will be held accountable if their services discriminate against people with disabilities."
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