Taxi driver denies blind woman ride

SuburbanChicagoNews.com, IL, USA
Saturday, October 27, 2007

Taxi driver denies blind woman ride

By KATIE FOUTZ, sun-times news group 

A blind Naperville woman and her guide dog were almost stranded outside Edward 
Hospital on Oct. 19 when an American Taxi driver refused to take them home, in 
violation of federal anti-discrimination laws. 

Linda Lopez-Van Dusen, 53, and her golden retriever-Labrador mix stood by while 
the driver spoke with the hospital security guard who had ordered the taxi. 

"He wouldn't even get back in the car," she said.

They ended up getting a ride home from the security guard. 

The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination by taxi services. 
Dan Coyne, a manager at American Taxi, said refusing rides to people with 
service dogs is "not our policy." He said the driver had severe allergies and 
did not know the woman had a service dog when he responded to the call. The 
driver also offered to call another cab. 

"A seeing-eye dog is considered an appendage of a person, like an arm," Coyne 
said. "Out of 900 cabs, the likelihood of this happening again, it's very 
minimal." 

It did happen once before, years ago, to the same driver, Coyne said. He said 
he would add the driver's allergy to his profile, but he would not be 
disciplined. 

"If he took an animal, he said he might crash the car," Coyne said. 

Lopez-Van Dusen said she heard the security guard inform the taxi dispatcher 
that a service dog was with her. 

"Clearly, dispatch dropped the ball," she said. "If they suspend or fine 
anyone, they should suspend or fine the dispatcher." 

Taxi companies have been sued for discrimination against people with 
disabilities, especially people with wheelchairs or guide dogs, according to a 
report on the ADA 's impact by the National Council on Disability. The report, 
released in July, said the U.S. Department of Transportation should conduct 
extensive training for transit companies regarding service animals, plus 
"increase high-profile enforcement actions" by the federal transportation and 
justice departments. 


http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/news/622730,4_1_JO27_BLINDDOG_S1.article
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