Passengers with disabilities are left behind, Amazon workers struggle to get benefits and Uber faces a reckoning. LegalRideshare breaks it down.
Cost, care, and comp (worker’s)… It’s all here in This Week in Rideshare.
MONDAY 7/11/22
Passengers with disabilities are still struggling for equitable service. The Verge adds:
Claypool, who has used a wheelchair since suffering a spinal cord injury during a skiing accident 30 years ago, says he is constantly flabbergasted by the inability of ride-share companies to provide equitable service to people with disabilities.
“I do think that there are ways to do that for people like myself, that might be in close proximity to an urban core, that would give them a more reliable access to transportation than they currently have,” said Claypool. “But these businesses don’t seem to be interested in exploring that right now.”
TUESDAY 7/12/22
Amazon warehouse workers are having a hard time getting help after injuries. CNET adds:
“I felt something pop,” said Jones, noting that the package had no label warning about its weight. He says his wrist later swelled to the size of an orange.
The injury was only the beginning of Jones’ problems. He was initially on workers’ compensation, but his benefits stopped after a few weeks because a doctor contracted by Amazon classified him as permanently disabled. After months without pay, Amazon said it couldn’t find a position for Jones that accommodated his disability. Jones hadn’t waited around, though. He got a lawyer and a second opinion from a doctor who said the disability wasn’t permanent.
Plenty of Amazon workers who’ve consulted with Greening, the workers’ compensation attorney, end up having a smooth time getting workers’ compensation and medical care. But he says the process can go off the rails even after treatment is underway.
WEDNESDAY 7/13/22
Uber faces a lawsuit from over 550 women. CNBC reported:
The complaint, filed Wednesday, claims that “women passengers in multiple states were kidnapped, sexually assaulted, sexually battered, raped, falsely imprisoned, stalked, harassed, or otherwise attacked” by their Uber drivers.
The case was filed by attorneys with the Slater Slater Schulman firm in San Francisco County Superior Court. The law firm said it has about 550 clients with claims against the company, and at least 150 more are being actively investigated.
“While the firm claims to be representing at least 550 women with cases — the law firm has only filed 12 to date,” Uber said on Thursday afternoon. “They have not been able to provide any critical incident details for us to identify a connection to the Uber platform.
THURSDAY 7/14/22
Still struggling to find an Uber? Vice explains why:
You’ve probably noticed that, for at least a year now, there’s been a nationwide Uber shortage. According to travel experts, this is due to a multitude of factors (Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic, fuel shortages). But, while other industries appear to be bouncing back, Ubers remain impossible to catch. What gives?
“Everything has gone up,” he says today. “Fuel has gone up, insurance has gone up and licensing fees have gone up, while more and more fares have gone down.”
Zamir says that because of this, Uber drivers have become a lot more selective about which fares they take on. He says he once turned down over 100 fares in a day. Picking someone up is rarely worth it, so why bother?
FRIDAY 7/15/22
Does your city have the most expensive Uber rides? GizmodoBR has the list.
Loan servicer NetCredit ran an illuminating analysis published on their website last week on Uber rates in the 30 most populous cities in the United States that the ride-sharing app services. NetCredit collected data on how much a 6.2 mile (10 kilometer) journey would cost at three different points of the day — near 8 a.m., workday afternoon, and a Sunday morning drive. Those costs were then averaged to determine a reasonable estimate of how much an Uber would cost in each of these 30 cities.
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