Elena Zerkal isn’t shy about tooting her personal horn over the 11 years she spent behind the wheel as a for-hire car driver.
“5-star rankings, skilled, I by no means had any issues,” she mentioned. “Greatest rankings, finest customer support evaluation, every part.”
However the former Lyft driver says that observe file didn’t spare her from being “dumped out of nowhere” by the app-based ride-hailing service final 12 months after she informed a male passenger in Midtown East that she was not comfy driving him as he berated a feminine companion within the again seat.
“I felt so unhealthy for this lady and I intervened and I mentioned, ‘Excuse me sir, I don’t respect that you just’re insulting the girl in entrance of me, I don’t really feel comfy driving you,’” Zerkal informed The Metropolis Reporter. “And whereas my automotive remains to be in gradual movement on 57th Road going west, he will get out, slams the door and yells, ‘You f—— b—-.”
Inside minutes of dropping off the girl, Zerkal mentioned, she was notified that she had been reduce off from the app, deactivated by Lyft over what she contends is a false accusation of assault from the male passenger.
“The man complained that I touched his genitalia, they utterly shut down my comms,” mentioned Zerkal, who now drives for 2 black automotive providers. “I bought dumped out of nowhere for this false declare that I touched him.”
The 54-year-old Queens grandmother was amongst near 200 for-hire car drivers who protested in Decrease Manhattan Tuesday over authorized maneuvering by Uber and Lyft to dam a metropolis legislation that’s designed to guard operators from being abruptly booted off the ride-hailing apps. The Metropolis Council accepted an analogous measure for app-based meals supply staff final 12 months.
The sponsor of what’s referred to as Native Legislation 52, Councilmember Shekar Krishnan (D-Queens), described the battle between the drivers and the tech giants as “cash versus the various, the company energy versus the individuals energy.”
“Again and again, Uber and Lyft have thrown every part at us,” Krishnan mentioned. “They’ve tried to dam our laws, they’ve gotten a former mayor in Eric Adams to veto our laws, however each time, we’ve stood up, we’ve fought again and we’ve gained.”
The New York Taxi Employees Alliance and Krishnan rallied exterior of Uber’s Decrease Manhattan headquarters two days earlier than a listening to in federal courtroom, saying the drivers deserve some due course of as a substitute of being all of the sudden deactivated by the apps.
“You can have labored for Uber and Lyft for 10 years with a spotless file,” mentioned Bhairavi Desai, govt director of the taxi staff alliance. “And inside a second and with out even a second’s discover, they may discard you as in case you by no means existed in any respect.”
The 2 corporations filed go well with in federal courtroom final month to problem a legislation overwhelmingly accepted by the Metropolis Council in January — and which is about to take impact July 28. The measure would bar the ride-hailing apps from slicing off staff with out “simply trigger” and require them to offer advance discover earlier than deactivating a driver.
Md Azizul Haque, who drove for Uber from 2018 to mid-2019, mentioned he’s nonetheless in the dead of night about why he was reduce off from the app.
“This legislation would give me a possibility to search out out the explanation why I bought deactivated,” Haque informed The Metropolis Reporter. “And likewise I’d get a good listening to about my points.”
The businesses contend that the legislation might pressure them to maintain unhealthy drivers who’re a menace to passenger and public security.
“Let me be clear: We don’t deactivate a consumer as a result of we need to, we do it as a result of we have to and it’s at all times a final resort,” Josh Gold, an Uber spokesperson, testified to The Metropolis Council in 2024. “We do it to assist guarantee everybody who makes use of Uber can have a protected and dependable expertise.”
In an unsigned assertion Tuesday, Uber known as the brand new legislation “reckless” and mentioned it might strip the corporate of its proper to bounce “doubtlessly harmful drivers and fraudsters” from the app.
“This unconstitutional laws seeks to pressure us to maintain our platform open to people accused of misconduct and compromises rider privateness by requiring the disclosure of delicate security studies to the very people accused of abuse,” the corporate mentioned.
Haque, who now drives a yellow taxi, mentioned the explanation for his deactivation “remains to be a thriller” to him, whereas Zerkal mentioned she would welcome the prospect for a listening to into why she was canned.
“No one needs to speak to me, they don’t care,” she mentioned. “They utterly reduce me off from my livelihood.”
Extra reporting by Claudia Irizarry Aponte
