Debra Simons filed complaint against 13Cabs with human rights commission, and was offered a $100 gift voucher after company argued it does not directly employ drivers
Debra Simons with her guide dog, Royce. Simons says she is rejected by taxis so often that she needs to add a buffer of at least half an hour on to every trip.Debra Simons with her guide dog, Royce. Simons says she is rejected by taxis so often that she needs to add a buffer of at least half an hour on to every trip.
Simons, who was born with a vision impairment and got Royce, her first registered guide dog, four years ago, said she had become accustomed to regular rejection by taxi drivers. In the following 12 months, Simons reported 34 different drivers who had declined her jobs on 13Cabs to the company, seven on multiple occasions.“There’s such a sense of helplessness and anger and humiliation,” Simons said. “And this isn’t just me … I don’t know anybody who has a guide dog who hasn’t experienced this.”
“It was just so demeaning,” Simons said. “The fact they think that as a vision-impaired person, that’s going to make me happy. I accepted it, but what else was I going to do? I had no choice.” “The Human Rights Commission are doing what they can, it’s the constraints of the legislation that’s the issue,” Stewart said.“The police will often turn up and they’ll either give a link to human rights information, or they’ll say, ‘you’ve got to settle down here, we know you’re feeling passionate about this but it will sort itself out’.
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