People With Service Dogs Can't Catch a Cab in D.C.

Due to past trouble hailing a cab, Stan Berman and his service dog went to the Mayflower Hotel's taxi stand instead of standing at the curb. He approached the first cab and opened the door to get in. The driver saw the dog, claimed he had an allergy and drove away with Stan's hand still on the door. Stan's experience isn't unique — several other people with service dogs share his frustration, including Jim Dickson, a member of the Equal Rights Center's Disability Rights Advisory Board.

Of course, the D.C. Taxicab Commission said they have zero tolerance for discrimination against people with service dogs. But the ERC decided to team up with the Washington Lawyers' Committee and Hogan Lovells to find out what was really happening on the streets.

ERC sent testers throughout the city in pairs: one blind person with a service dog and one person without. The people were "matched" according to race and age; the only difference was the dog. The person with the service dog was positioned so the cab would see them first, but a full 50 percent of the time, the driver ignored them in favor of picking up the person without the canine companion. Check out the video below — you can see several drivers pulling up the blind person, slowing down and then passing them by. In another 10 percent of the cases, the drivers added illegal surcharges for the dog.

Charles Crawford, an ERC member with a service dog, said being denied a cab is not only annoying, it's "both hurtful and an insult to those of us who must rely upon the loving assistance of our dogs to travel independently."

It's also illegal.

First of all, there's this little bit of legislation called the Americans with Disabilities Act, which says that businesses have to provide equal service for people with disabilities, which includes allowing their service dogs to go where they go. That means taxis have to let service dogs ride and they can't charge them more for it.

Second, there's the District of Columbia Human Rights Act, which includes disabilities in the list of reasons why someone cannot be discriminated against; like the ADA, the Human Rights Act says you have to accommodate people with disabilities.

For the third strike, Title 31 of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations, which governs the city's cabs, says that taxi drivers cannot refuse service unless they already have a customer or fear for their lives. Maybe there's an epidemic of D.C. cab drivers who are dog-phobic, but given the other anti-discrimination laws around service dogs, that excuse doesn't fly. And I'm pretty sure the regulation is referring to the guy trying to hail a cab with a sawed-off shotgun, not the guy with the German Shepherd beside him who has had more schooling on public etiquette than the average six-year-old.

There have been several federal lawsuits filed against D.C. cab drivers; the courts have consistently ruled that taxicab companies cannot shirk their liability for discrimination. That's great, but people with guide dogs shouldn't be in a position where they have to sue every time they need to go to an appointment or meet a friend for lunch.

Tell the D.C. Taxicab Commission that it's time to crack down on discrimination. As the agency responsible for regulating and monitoring the industry, they can set licensing standards that include mandatory training in anti-discrimination laws, as well as regular compliance testing and investigations to make sure people with service dogs aren't being left at the curb.

Photo credit: Zevotron