Ride-sharing firm Uber has just sold out a driver for following Uber’s own rules.
As CNN reports, Ahmad el Boutari asked a lesbian couple to leave his car last weekend after they kissed during a New York City journey. Kissing breaches Uber rules, which state that “you shouldn’t touch or flirt with other people in the car … no sexual conduct with drivers or fellow riders, no matter what.”
But while Boutari might appear to have overreacted, according to the New York Daily News, “Boutari said the couple was acting crude in his cab. He said one forced the other to smell her armpit, they played loud videos on their phones, one put her feet on his seat, and they kissed.” Boutari explained that he asked them to get out because “it’s my own car. I didn’t feel comfortable with them.”
The couple then refused to leave the door area of Boutari’s car for about one minute and proceeded to swear at him.
I’m with Boutari on this one. It’s his car, and if passengers are rude and in breach of the rules, he has the right to tell them to get out. Ask any Uber or Lyft driver about some of their experiences, and you’ll understand why ride-sharing drivers need to have these rights.
Unfortunately, because Uber kneels in fear to LGBT political correctness, Uber has decided to knife Boutari in the back and ban him from the app. Speaking to the New York Post, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi declared that when it comes to drivers who ask riders who break Uber rules to leave their vehicle, “I think they don’t belong driving, period.”
That’s a ridiculous and pathetic response.
Most obviously, it sets the principle that drivers do not have the right to exclude passengers for behaving like morons. After all, if Boutari’s description of the ladies’ “smell her armpit” conduct in this case is accurate, they were manifestly behaving like morons. Uber’s guidelines say that “courtesy matters,” but what courtesy is it to stick your legs onto a driver’s chair?
Would you want individuals doing this in your car? I wouldn’t.
Second, by contradicting its own rules and setting the further principle that Uber drivers do not have the right to exclude idiots, Uber weakens its claim that its drivers are private contractors not employees. Establishing overarching control over a private driver’s rights in situations of controversy, Uber lends credibility to those who claim its drivers are employers. That opens Uber to new claims over employee benefits and the threat of added regulation. That’s obviously bad for Uber, but it’s also bad for riders. As a CEO, Khosrowshahi should have thought about this.
Ultimately, Uber’s deference to political correctness here and its lack of courage in standing up for contracting drivers may cause the company to lose a lot of money in lawsuits over the coming years. But if nothing else, it shows a terrible disregard for those who use Uber to give us cheaper rides than taxis.
In a response to some questions I sent to Uber’s press team, the company commented that “Uber does not tolerate any form of discrimination, and we have been in touch with the rider regarding her experience. We are investigating, and we have removed the driver’s access to the app.” Uber did not, however, explain how its action against Boutari conforms with its rules against inappropriate behavior. It did not, because such an explanation is metaphysically impossible. Below is a video of the final stage of Boutari’s interaction with the couple.
