Sun. April 5, 2015
Chicago, IL -
Two Chicago men were left shocked and one injured this week after they were kicked out of a cab on Chicago's Lake Shore Drive for sharing a kiss.
Shadi Ramini and Seth Day hailed a Blue Ribbon taxi through the Uber app on their way to a friend's house on Wednesday night. When they shared a kiss, the driver ordered them out of the cab and onto the busy highway.
"We shared just a very small kiss, like a big peck, like, excited to go out," Ramini told NBC Chicago.
Ramini was the first to get out of the taxi between Montrose and Irving Park Road on Lake Shore Drive, Day initially refused.
"I was behind the driver so I couldn't just open my door to get out unless I wanted to get run over from traffic," Day explained to ChicagoPride.com. "Before I could move over to the passenger side to get out of the car, the driver slammed on the gas again."
The unidentified taxi driver pulled over again about 30 feet up the road and that's when Day said he tried to exit the cab. While getting out, Day tripped onto the highway, suffering scrapes and bruises on his arms and torso, and road burn on his lower back.
"I was definitely scared," Day said. "I've never experienced anything like this before. It's sad to think in a city that's so diverse that there's still so much hate."
Uber said the driver was not employed through their company and called the incident "unacceptable."
"No rider should ever have to go through an experience like this," Uber said in a released statement. "Not only is this Chicago taxi driver's behavior unacceptable, it's in clear violation of Illinois' non-discrimination law and Uber's zero tolerance discrimination policy. The driver was immediately removed from the platform."
Day, who regularly uses Uber, said the company has not reached out to him directly.
Chicago police and the state's human rights commission are investigating.
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