Uber Driver Refuses Woman in Labor, Charges Her $13 Anyway
Uber eventually apologized for stranding the pregnant woman and refunded the $13 fee. Photo: Uber)
Normally, when a woman is in labor and needs a ride to the hospital pronto, it’s a given that she’ll be able to hail a ride. In fact, it’s the law. But that didn’t happen for one New York couple recently, when an Uber driver refused to let her in and stuck them with a $13 fee anyway.
David Lee told Fortune that he and his wife called the driver for an urgent three-mile hospital ride from their apartment. But when the driver saw Lee’s wife (her name was withheld) retching from the sidewalk, he refused to let her in, saying he could lose $1,000 a day if she got sick in his car.
Lee insisted she wouldn’t get sick again and promised to pay all compensation if she did, but the driver took off, leaving them with a $13 fee for his visit.
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The couple hailed another Uber, and this time the driver took them to the hospital, where Lee’s wife had a healthy baby boy a few hours later.
Lee says that when he complained to Uber about the incident, the company representative refused the driver did anything wrong and refused to give more information about the driver so Lee could lodge a discrimination complaint. City and state laws mandate that a driver give a ride to women in labor.
“I don’t blame Uber for one driver’s poor actions, since bad apples can appear in any organization,” Lee told Fortune. “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.”
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The $13 fee was eventually refunded. An Uber spokesperson has since released the following statement:
“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.”
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