A college student in New York is looking to sue a man who — in his capacity as her Uber driver — refused to take her to get an abortion.
He’s already been punished: For his unwillingness to lend a hand, the rideshare giant gave him his walking (or driving?) papers.
She recounted the horrific experience (her Uber ride, not the abortion) on Reddit earlier in the month:
“I’m in college in upstate NY and I don’t have a car on campus because it’s expensive. I’m 20 years old and I found out I was pregnant and subsequently decided I wanted an abortion because I’m in no position to care for a child.”
Problemo.
“There is a Planned Parenthood very close to my university, but the earliest appointment they had was a week away, and I found a clinic an hour away that had availability in three days, so I opted to go there instead.”
But the dadgum driver was nosey:
“Because I don’t have a car, I rely on Uber and lyft to get me places. My appointment was at 11:30am so at 9:58am my Uber arrived and he immediately seemed uncomfortable. After about five minutes in the car, he asked, ‘Are we going to a Planned Parenthood?’ I said no (because we weren’t), but it set off alarm bells that he would even ask that. The destination I put in was just the name of the doctor and the address of the clinic, there was nothing that would suggest it was an abortion clinic. After a few more minutes he asked, ‘Are we going to an abortion clinic?’”
The driver had been there, done that. He tried to help:
“I was shocked; I had no idea what to say, so I just remained quiet. He then said, ‘I know it’s none of my business, but…’ and proceeded to mention something about his wife being pregnant, how awful the procedure was (and proceeded to explain it in graphic detail), and that ‘there is so much they don’t tell you.’ He then said, ‘You’re going to regret this decision for the rest of your life’ and that I was making a mistake.”
This dude was about to make her flat-out cry:
“It took all of my strength not to start crying, but I managed to keep it together by looking out the window and avoiding his gaze.”
The driver’s conscience wouldn’t allow him to be a part of it:
“After we were about halfway to the destination, he suddenly pulls over with no warning. There was a gas station and a closed antiques store, and around us was farmland and forest. He said, ‘I’m sorry, but I can’t take you the rest of the way. I can take you back to [my city], but you won’t be able to find another Uber out here.'”
Okay, time to cry:
“I got out of the car and immediately started crying. I called my parents each three times, but they didn’t pick up.”
Fortunately for her, chivalry was not dead:
“Then I called my boyfriend, and he picked up right away. He managed to calm me down and told me to let the clinic know what was happening and to call some local cab companies.”
The driver waited around for 10-15 minutes and offered again to return her to the city. Shortly after he left, a cab picked her up and took her to the clinic, an hour late.
The young lady reported the Uber driver to the…COPS??
“I reported the driver to Uber and the next day I filed a police report with my city’s police department. Someone on Uber’s team got in touch with me after I told them about the police report and called me to get a detailed account of what happened. I told them everything on a call that was recorded, and the rep mentioned that it appeared the driver had taken a less direct route to get me to my destination prior to dropping me off.”
Uber let the girl know the driver had been banned from ever driving for them again.
Now she’s ready to move on to the suing phase:
“[I]’d like to pursue further legal action against the driver if at all possible. Do I have a case? What should my next steps be? I reached out to a law firm and a few legal aid societies but nothing has happened. I’m not sure what I should do now.”
Yeah; that guy should definitely be sued (?).
In a normal era, perhaps the girl would appreciate the man’s principle and his attempt to help her, even if she disagreed. She’d respect his effort keep her from making a mistake with which he was familiar. But this isn’t that era.
There was the Stone Age; the Ice Age, the Middle Ages; we’re now living — it seems to me — in the Idiot Age.
-Alex
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