Uber Fires London Driver Who Refused To Take Jews

Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
(JTA) — Uber dropped a driver in London who allegedly said he would not take Jews.
Two men who were wearing kippahs said the driver, identified as “Ahmed,” refused to pick them up after they were matched with him on the Uber app, the Jewish Chronicle reported.
The driver dropped off another passenger then “turned around, and as he drove past us, said ‘I don’t take Jews.’ Then he hightailed it, just pegged it,” Sam Adler, one of the men, told the Jewish Chronicle. He says he suspects that the driver did not see their kippahs until he turned around.
He then cancelled the booking via the app, according to the report.
An Uber spokesperson told the Jewish Chronicle that the driver’s behavior was “totally unacceptable” and that the company “does not tolerate any form of discrimination.” The company removed the driver’s access from the app and reported the allegations to the London Metropolitan Police.
Adler said that the company declined to provide compensation, telling him: “We would never want to minimize an experience like you describe by putting an arbitrary monetary value on the situation.”
"Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief"
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
