Ontario woman with service dog says Uber driver wouldn’t take her: ‘Unfathomable’

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A London woman is speaking out after she says she was denied an Uber ride because of her guide dog, a “troubling” example of why more teeth are needed to enforce the rights of the disabled, one advocate says.

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Jaime Hooper, who has hearing and visual impairments, said she filed a complaint with the ride-hailing giant after the driver refused to let her board with her guide dog, Hollie, late last week.

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“It’s unfathomable to me that this is still happening in 2024,” she said. “Locally and provincially, the situation doesn’t seem to be improving either. It’s getting worse.”

Hooper has had guide dogs for the last 14 years and Hollie since April. She said she ordered an Uber XL vehicle, a larger car that would comfortably accommodate her and Hollie, for a five-minute ride to an appointment on Thursday afternoon.

It was her first time using the mobile rideshare app with her guide dog, she said.

Once the ride was confirmed by the driver and he was on his way, Hooper said she used the app messaging interface to say she was deaf and visually impaired and had a guide dog, as a courtesy.

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When the driver arrived, he parked on the opposite side of the road from her house, Hooper said. When he saw Hollie, the driver yelled from the window whether “that was coming with you,” referring to her guide dog, Hooper said.

“He got upset and rude with me for telling him that I needed a service dog. I tried to educate him that it was a service dog, not a pet,” she said.

“He made up an excuse that he wasn’t insured for the dog.”

Hooper realized they were at an impasse and had the driver cancel the fare, she said. She complained to Uber Canada and received a follow-up within 24 hours, but said the agent didn’t appear to understand the gravity of being denied service “just for being who you are.”

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Ontario human rights law prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities who use a service animal, including preventing their access to places the public would normally be able to go.

In a statement, Uber Canada said it investigates all service animal-related reports and has a special team to handle the complaints.

“Discrimination on our platform is unacceptable, and our community guidelines expressly prohibit this behaviour,” the company wrote in an emailed statement.

“We believe in equal transportation for all, and we remain committed to building technology and policies that make our platform inclusive and accessible for everyone.”

Drivers who sign up for the platform must agree to transport service animals in accordance with Uber’s policy and also to “comply with all applicable accessibility laws,” the company said.

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Drivers found to have violated Uber’s rules can face consequences, including the permanent deactivation of their account, the company said.

Despite the driver outreach and training Uber does on accessibility for people with disabilities, the fact issues are still arising between drivers and riders with service animals shows the effort isn’t translating to results, disability rights advocate Jeff Preston said.

“These situations are both interesting and troubling in many ways,” he said Sunday.

“It tells us that perhaps having the rules in place and the training is not enough. Maybe there needs to be more consequences for those who are not doing as they’re supposed to be doing and perhaps corporations need to also face consequences for repeated violations.”

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More broadly, the enforcement of accessibility provisions under Ontario law is severely lacking, Preston said.

“It can be extremely difficult, and extremely slow and extremely costly in order to get the kind of justice people sometimes deserve,” he said, adding the onus is often on the person experiencing discrimination to advance a claim on their own.

Beyond better enforcement, public understanding about accessibility rights and duties to accommodate must be improved, Preston said.

“Disabled people are not getting the support they need. Our world remains horrendously inaccessible,” he said. “If we’re not really thinking about and talking about disability issues actively, because we assume they’re things that don’t concern us, we shouldn’t be surprised when it’s not at the front of people’s minds.”

jbieman@postmedia.com

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