Taxi drivers may have disparate-treatment claim against Chicago, says federal judge
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In a recent order denying the city of Chicago’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit challenging ride-sharing rules, a federal judge found that the taxi businesses who filed the case may have a valid disparate-treatment claim.
The plaintiffs allege that less stringent city rules for ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft are ruining the cab business, the Chicago Tribune reports.
A recent ordinance permits ride-sharing services to pick up passengers from O’Hare Airport’s upper arrival level, while taxi and limousine drivers using smartphone apps to find fares must use the lower departure level. Although that could amount to disparate treatment, U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman wrote in her order, she did not grant a preliminary injunction motion seeking to stay enforcement of the new ordinance.
The taxi and limo companies “are essentially asking the court to dictate the city’s transportation policy,” Coleman wrote in the order. “The court declines to grant such an extraordinary remedy. … It is the City Council that has the authority to remedy the situation at hand, and not this court.”
Meanwhile, Chicago aldermen are considering an ordinance that would require ride-sharing drivers to have some of the same licensing requirements as limo drivers, including a background check, fingerprints and a specific driving license.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel does not support the proposed ordinance, according to the Chicago Tribune. Emanuel has said that the ride-sharing companies give consumers more choices, while also creating part-time jobs for drivers. He’s also argued that ride-sharing businesses are better than the cab industry about serving the city’s minority communities.