Posted on 06/19/2017 10:38:52 AM PDT by nickcarraway
An Uber driver in South Florida was given a hefty ticket for violating a county ordinance that speaks less to how she handles her vehicle than other skills.
Cell phone footage obtained exclusively by our sister station Telemundo 51 captured Carmen Echevarria, getting a $250 ticket from a Miami-Dade Police officer outside Miami International Airport. Her violation? Not being able to speak English correctly.
“I felt discriminated against,” Echevarria told the station. “I asked the (passenger sitting in her car) ‘Can you please help translate what she is saying?’ Then she asked why, if I was an Uber driver, I didn’t speak English.“
In May 2016, Miami-Dade County issued a memorandum with rules for transportation network drivers – with one of the requirements being "able to communicate in the English language."
“I told her ‘so sorry, a little English’ then she called the inspector who also confronted me and told me in order to be an Uber driver I need it to speak English”.
Last month, Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed into law CS/HB 221, which overrides local laws like the English requirement across the state and also spells out insurance and background check requirements for ride-sharing companies.
Uber spokesman Javi Correoso sent a statement to NBC 6 saying the company is "proud of the diversity of driver partners in the South Florida market." Correoso went on to say that until statewide regulations go into effect on July 1, Uber asks all driver partners in the state to follow all applicable local laws and regulations.
The current language requirement for drivers in Miami is not listed on the Uber website for the area. Correoso said the memo law for Miami-Dade County is "very vague and difficult to enforce" and is not listed on their website because drivers are asked to follow all laws and regulations when they sign up.
Correoso said all paperwork given to drivers on applications is in English. He also said some fines for Uber drivers have been paid in the past by the company, but could not confirm if they would pay for Echevarria's fine.
What a fascinating case this is going to be. I’d think this will get all the way to the SCOTUS eventually.
I’m on the fence on this one.
LOL, good for them for having this ordinance.
English should be the official language of the country.
It is still a requirement for citizenship, although I don’t know how stringently that is enforced.
“I felt discriminated against,” Echevarria told the station.
“I felt discriminated against,” Echevarria’s interpreter told the station. Fixed
My employer is based in Miami and i use Uber all the time when I need to go there.
About half of the Uber drivers don’t speak english at all or very little.
They will be passing out a whole lot of tickets...
I couldn't do my job as required. I feel so discriminated against.
Uber is proud of drivers that can’t speak English. So very, very proud.
There...fixed it :)
I won’t do business with someone that I can’t communicate with. If I owned a business I wouldn’t hire anyone that wouldn’t be able to communicate with and therefore give good service to customers.
I am all for English, but need to know details. If this was a visitor coming into the airport from Latin America, then the fine was wrong. Otherwise, it makes sense. I am a Uber driver and. speak little Spanish herein socal
I know. You two are right.
I personally would just try to help the person out... that doesn’t mean I’m right.
Miami?
I’d be surprised if ANY drivers spoke English. What do you expect?
No Great American Melting Pot, no peace!
I don’t remember the Founding Fathers establishing a national language, and I don’t remember the Constitution establishing a national language.
Do you remember Miami establishing a language? Because apparently they did.
In America, people should have two realistic choices: Speak English or speak English and any additional language(s).
Where does it say that in the Constitution?
I wonder if this event was “staged”. Fits a couple narratives, one being a left wing media frenzy of hate against Uber.
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