An Uber driver in New York City made a lesbian couple leave the car after they exchanged a kiss in the backseat, the pair claim.
Alex Iovine, 26, an advertising technology consultant, and Emma Pichl, 24, a senior recruiter, were traveling from a birthday party at a bar in Gowanus, Brooklyn, to another birthday party in the East Village.
“We were sitting on opposite sides of the car,” Iovine said. “We leaned in for a peck, and that’s what it was, a legit peck.”
When their driver, 35-year-old Ahmed Elbotari, pulled over and told them to get out, one of the women took a video of the confrontation and posted it on YouTube, according to New York Daily News. The driver argued that what they did was illegal, and the two women retorted that it was not and threatened to report him.
Elbotari said the couple was disrespectful in the vehicle. He said one forced the other to smell her armpit, one put her feet on the seat, they played loud videos on their phones, and they kissed. He said he asked them to stop kissing and turn down the volume on their phones.
“It’s my own car. I didn’t feel comfortable with them,” Elbotari said.
He added that he would have made the same request of a straight couple, although he did admit he had less tolerance for a same-sex couple.
Uber said it has begun an investigation and said in a statement that it “does not tolerate any form of discrimination.”
