City Wide hit with 2nd ruling of discrimination against person with service dog
Joshua Roberts awarded $7,500 in damages after being denied ride from downtown St. John's
A St. John's man is speaking out about being denied taxi rides in the city because of his service dog.
An adjudicator with the Human Rights Commission ruled City Wide Taxi discriminated against Joshua Roberts, contrary to the province's Human Rights Act. It's the second time the Human Rights Commission found City Wide discriminated against a person with a disability using a service dog.
The first ruling was handed down in 2016, while another similar incident happened at St. John's International Airport in 2022.
Roberts' encounter happened about 18 months ago, when he and his service dog Ocean tried to get in a cab at the downtown intersection of Adelaide and George streets, a busy hub for cabs waiting for customers.
Roberts says a City Wide car turned him away first, and then a City Wide van also denied him a ride. Roberts spoke with a nearby police officer, who convinced the van driver to take him.
"It was an ordeal. It was embarrassing to say the least, and it was a little frustrating to have to re-experience that humiliation of having this condition," Roberts said.
"I'm doing my best myself to deal with it. I figured that I would at least receive a little bit support from the transportation systems we have, but I felt failed on that day."
Roberts got Ocean after he was hit by a car and hospitalized with broken bones and other injuries.
He said Ocean helps him deal with the post-traumatic stress disorder that incident caused.
"It became very hard for me to articulate my thoughts and how to talk about my feelings, so I needed a companion that could really remind me of the good things in life and she certainly does that," Roberts said.
"I tried to express that I'm a person with a disability. It's not really a choice but I'm working through it myself and I would appreciate some help."
Roberts decided to complain to the Human Rights Commission about the incident after attempting to speak to City Wide.
He said the company didn't return any of his calls and there was no attempt of any communication to resolve the matter.
"After sharing my message with the public, it was strongly encouraged that I take a route that could help solve, or at least offer some resolution to the matter," he said.
Last spring, an adjudicator for the commission ruled City Wide did unfairly discriminate against Roberts.
The company was ordered to pay him $7,500 in damages and employees must undergo training about the accommodation of people with disabilities.
In the spring decision, the adjudicator also said there's evidence of a systemic problem at City Wide and it's beyond the actions of the individual driver.
City Wide owner Peter Gulliver didn't return a message seeking comment.
With files from Mark Quinn