Uber has barred a London driver from the app after two men claimed he cancelled their requested trip because he "doesn't take Jews".
The driver, identified to his passengers as “Ahmad”, was booked for a journey in Wembley on Monday afternoon by Sam Adler and his business partner.
“We were standing by the roundabout of Wembley Hill Road and Empire Way, and the guy drove past and said ‘just dropping off a passenger, I’m coming back’", Mr Adler told the JC.
Mr Adler said he believed the driver then noticed that the two men waiting were wearing kippahs, because he said the driver subsequently “turned around, and as he drove past us, said ‘I don’t take Jews’. Then he hightailed it, just pegged it.”
Screenshots of the booked journey, seen by the JC, show the driver then cancelled the booking via the app.
“As soon as we are made aware of these situations we remove a driver’s access from the app and report them to the Metropolitan Police."
Uber had told Mr Adler the situation was being “handled as a priority”, confirming they had “the full details of the partner-driver, trip and rider on our systems, so that we can immediately investigate any concerns raised”.
However, they declined to provide Mr Adler with any compensation when he asked, telling him: “We would never want to minimise an experience like you describe by putting an arbitrary monetary value on the situation.
“What may be one value to an individual may be different to another - it is just not possible to calculate.”
Mr Adler said the incident had made him feel that “what is going on in Parliament is spreading out and having a wider effect on people".
“People are seeing that the Labour Party leadership can be open about antisemitism, and think that they can also be and that there will be no consequences, people think they will get away with it", he said.
“I’m not racist towards other people. We shouldn’t have to put up with this.”
