Uber Driver fired & arrested for not taking service animal.

3888 Views 66 Replies 22 Participants Last post by Demon, Jan 27, 2017

UberLaLa

Discussion Starter · Jul 8, 2016

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article88139382.html

Florida Uber driver arrested after refusing ride to blind man, service dog.

Associated Press

ORLANDO
An Uber driver in Florida was arrested after deputies say he refused to transport a group of blind people and their service dogs.

According to news outlets, citing an arrest report, 60-year-old Simon Pierre Andre Nau was picking up Robert Stigile, who's blind, and other blind people in Stigile's group Monday night in Orlando.

Stigile says that when Nau showed up, he said, "I don't take dogs." Stigile explained the dogs were service animals and Nau allegedly replied "I don't care."

Stigile says he was standing in the open door frame and felt the car move forward, striking him.

Orange County Sheriff's deputies arrested Nau on charges of failure to transport a blind person with a service dog and battery.

Deputies say Nau laughed about the incident as if he "didn't fully understand that he had broken the law." It's unclear if Nau has an attorney.

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Older Chauffeur

· #61 · Jul 25, 2016 (Edited)

There is no official certificate for any service animal. People can train their own or have a professional do it.
As to restraining a dog in a seatbelt, it is easily done with adjustable straps that fit into the seatbelt receiver and fasten to the dog's harness. Available on Amazon for a very reasonable price. I have them for my 11 pound terriers and gave a set to our groomer who transports all her canine clients in her SUV. You don't want even a small dog flying through your car in the event of an accident.

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Frontier Guy

· #62 · Jul 26, 2016

$19.00 for a device that will tether the dog to the seat belt, bought it from PetSmart.

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Older Chauffeur

· #63 · Jul 26, 2016

Amazon sells Vastar adjustable seatbelt leads, 2 for $7.99. Even with shipping added it's a darn good deal. I tried to provide a link but wasn't able to get it to work.

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Travis -k

· #64 · Jan 27, 2017

UberLaLa said:
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article88139382.html

Florida Uber driver arrested after refusing ride to blind man, service dog.

Associated Press

ORLANDO
An Uber driver in Florida was arrested after deputies say he refused to transport a group of blind people and their service dogs.

According to news outlets, citing an arrest report, 60-year-old Simon Pierre Andre Nau was picking up Robert Stigile, who's blind, and other blind people in Stigile's group Monday night in Orlando.

Stigile says that when Nau showed up, he said, "I don't take dogs." Stigile explained the dogs were service animals and Nau allegedly replied "I don't care."

Stigile says he was standing in the open door frame and felt the car move forward, striking him.

Orange County Sheriff's deputies arrested Nau on charges of failure to transport a blind person with a service dog and battery.

Deputies say Nau laughed about the incident as if he "didn't fully understand that he had broken the law." It's unclear if Nau has an attorney.

He was arrested for hitting him with his car, not refusing to give him a ride.

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Reactions: 1

Travis -k

· #65 · Jan 27, 2017

Tedgey said:
That's a fine, legitimate question. If you don't want that dog or any service animal in your car, I would suggest you come up with another reason that has nothing to do with the fact that you don't want the dog in your car. Even if you have a life threatening allergy which would be pretty surprising but even if it's true, you'd be better off claiming you suddenly had a migraine. The ADA is taken very seriously. There are a ton of disability rights organizations which have a lot of power both in Washington and in every state. You will lose to them. This guy in Florida is in much deeper than he realizes and you're better off not fighting it. Say you have a migraine and you'll be ok.

Just shut your car off, say what the hell pop the hood get out look at it shaking your head, tell the people sorry wait for them to cancel, say oh shoot I see the problem it's the battery terminal shut the hood, sorry folks I have to go get this fixed bye.

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Travis -k

· #66 · Jan 27, 2017

Frontier Guy said:
$19.00 for a device that will tether the dog to the seat belt, bought it from PetSmart.

All service dogs are required to lay on the floor, if they refuse, you can refuse simply record them.

I will give a ride to legit dogs that lay on the floor as required no problem. But they ain't laying on my seat.

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Reactions: 1