City attorneys in Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego questioned Uber's treatment of transgender drivers and called on the company to explain how it verifies accounts for transgender drivers, action prompted by a Los Angeles Times story that illustrated barriers drivers faced during the process.
Uber's conduct may violate several anti-discrimination and workplace safety laws city attorneys are empowered to enforce, the attorneys said in a letter to Uber. The letter and a statement from Los Angeles City Atty. Mike Feuer's office referenced the Dec. 10 story published in The Times, which was based on the accounts of transgender and nonbinary people, some who lost work as drivers for Uber or failed to get approval to sign up.
"Uber tries to talk a good game when it comes to LGBTQ equality, but we have serious questions about whether it is failing transgender drivers," Feuer said in a statement. "We intend to find out if reported incidents are isolated mistakes or part of a larger pattern that locks some transgender drivers out of rideshare opportunities."
