SAN FRANCISCO (CN) — Making Uber provide wheelchair-accessible rides in two gulf cities would cost too much and set a dangerous precedent, an Uber lawyer argued on the first day of a bench trial over federal disability access laws.
“If the court grants plaintiffs the relief they’re seeking, there’s no reason the same relief won’t be requested in any city USA,” Uber attorney Ethel Johnson said. “As a consequence, the potential burden on Uber and other companies is magnified far greater than what the court will hear at this trial.”
Uber is fighting two lawsuits challenging the lack of wheelchair-accessible cars in its driver fleets in New Orleans and Jackson, Mississippi. The plaintiffs — three disabled men — claim the failure to offer rides that can accommodate their motorized wheelchairs violates the Americans with Disabilities Act.
One of the plaintiffs — New Orleans resident Francis Falls, a paraplegic who also had his right arm amputated — told the court Wednesday that he was with friends from out of town in the French Quarter in late 2018 when they called an Uber to take them home. Because the Uber driver couldn't accommodate him, he wheeled his way home, was hit by a car and had to be hospitalized for seven days, he said.
“They got a lot of people that really want to get out and do things and they can’t really do it,” Falls said. “It’d be a blessing for everybody that’s disabled to be able to get out and do what they need to do."
The ADA requires companies make reasonable modifications to provide “equivalent” service to that which is offered to able-bodied customers, but Uber claims the plaintiffs’ demands in these lawsuits are unreasonable.
The plaintiffs want Chief U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg to make the company introduce wheelchair-accessible vehicle, or WAV, programs in their cities just like the ones Uber previously launched in 11 other urban centers, including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.
The plaintiffs say Uber could add more accessible cars to its fleets by incentivizing WAV drivers with extra payments, partnering with other transportation providers, starting lease programs with car rental firms and lifting its ban on the use of vans and cars with aftermarket modifications.
Uber’s legal team says while those options may work in larger cities like Houston and Phoenix, they won’t fly in cities like Jackson and New Orleans because their populations are much smaller.
“Evidence will show that launching a bare-bones marketplace in New Orleans will have a high cost,” Johnson said. “This is an unreasonable loss to force Uber or any other company to bear.”
Transport economist and plaintiffs' expert witness James Cooper testified that Uber could use an accessibility fee, which some cities have required it to charge, to fund WAV programs. An extra 10 cents added to ride fares in each city would cover the cost of making accessible cars more available in Jackson and New Orleans, Cooper told the court.
But under a grilling cross examination, Cooper acknowledged that he did not estimate how much it would cost Uber to provide WAV service in either city.
“It’s your opinion that the cost of providing WAV service in New Orleans should be borne by Uber no matter how much it costs,” Uber attorney Stephanie Schuster asked.
“So long as the service is providable, it should be provided,” Cooper replied. “It’s the right of access.”
Also on Wednesday, plaintiff Scott Crawford, a retired psychologist who has multiple sclerosis and limited mobility, testified about the trouble he’s encountered using other transportation services in his hometown of Jackson. Getting a ride requires making a reservation days in advance and knowing the exact time he needs to be picked up after appointments. He said one provider also doesn’t operate outside city limits, where he has to go for medical appointments.
Crawford complained that he can’t meet friends at a restaurant for spur-of-the-moment dinner plans in the way other Uber customers can.
“Just being able to go out to dinner at night with friends on short notice would change my life for the better,” Crawford said. “It would make me feel like an adult again.”
Plaintiff Stephan Namisnak, a New Orleans man with muscular dystrophy, told the judge he's been left out of the many programs Uber offered in his city, including free rides to vote at the polls or get vaccinated. New Orleans also hired Uber to drive residents to food-and-water distribution sites and evacuation centers during the destructive Hurricane Ida storm last year, but he couldn't take advantage of those offers.
“I don’t want to be left behind because I’m disabled,” Namisnak said.
The trial is scheduled to continue for another four nonconsecutive days through Jan. 28.
In 2020, the Ninth Circuit ruled the plaintiffs have standing to sue even though they never tried to get a ride with Uber because the lack of wheelchair-accessible cars made downloading Uber's app “a futile gesture.”
This past November, the U.S. Department of Justice also sued Uber, claiming the ride-hail giant violates the ADA by imposing “wait time” fees on disabled riders who need extra time to board vehicles.
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