Kiara White, a Davenport, Iowa, resident, recorded a racist tirade by her driver while using the Uber ride service.
The rant, which was allegedly initiated by the driver after he went the wrong direction on a one-way street twice, has been shared via Facebook. Apparently, the man was having issues understanding the GPS and the subsequent danger caused White to react.
The white driver, identified only as “Timothy,” and White, who’s is Black, engaged in an emotionally charged banter on the way to her destination. The initial back and forth was not recorded.
White claims “Timothy” called her “a whore who sold drugs” just like “all Black people.” And that’s when the verbal assault began. She pulled out her cellphone and began to record the exchange.
He began to make monkey noises and even as she disclosed that she was recording him, “Timothy” continued. He yelled for her to exit his vehicle and White threatened to call the police or she wanted the fare refunded to her. He also called her the n-word as well as a b—- as White laughed and called him a clown.
She later filed a complaint with Uber and her account was blocked. Uber didn’t give a reason for the alleged ban.
According to “Timothy’s” Uber profile, he hadn’t even worked for the company for a month, but he did have a 4.82 rating out of five stars. Uber has reportedly fired the racist driver.
The company also issued a statement, regarding the incident:
“This behavior is appalling and it has no place on the Uber app or anywhere. Uber does not tolerate any form of discrimination and as soon as we learned of this report, we removed this driver’s access to the app. Uber seeks to ensure that safe, reliable, and high-quality transportation options are available to everyone,” and vows a zero-tolerance approach to abuse “against riders or drivers based on race” and other identifying characteristics. “Any rider or driver found to have violated this prohibition will lose access to the Uber platform.”
CEO Dara Khosrowshahi leads Uber’s executive team. In 2017, after a string of revelations about unethical practices and workplace harassment, some Uber customers vowed to turn their back on company. As a result, Uber lost market share to Lyft in 2018.
White was banned by the company, but according to that recorded exchange, both White and “Timothy” violated Uber’s policy.
Reader Question: Do you think the passenger should have had her account banned as well
