Photo by andertho.

A lawsuit brought by six D.C. cab drivers against the city and the Taxicab Commission over modernization efforts implemented last year has been dismissed.

The drivers, as well as two passengers, alleged that a regulation requiring a modern taximeter system violated “the Fourth Amendment’s protection against ‘unreasonable searches and seizures’ and the Fifth Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection.” They also claimed a regulation requiring a uniform dome light violated parts of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Age Discrimination in Employment Act. The plaintiffs wanted to hold DCTC Chairman Ron Linton liable for the violations and D.C. “liable for negligence in failing to prevent the violations.”

A U.S. District Court judge granted the city’s and DCTC’s motion to dismiss the suit, writing that the drivers failed to state their claims.

“The complaint alleges that plaintiff Syed has a ‘certified medical disability as a result of
a brain hemorrhage and stroke he suffered’ and that the new Dome Light system creates a ‘hazardous condition’ for him and other drivers with disabilities,” Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle wrote of the ADA claim. “What the complaint fails to plausibly allege is that the Dome Light Regulation imposes a greater burden on Syed, or on any other driver with a disability, than it imposes on drivers without disabilities.”

As for the claim that the taxi payment system regulation was discriminatory, an invasion of privacy and “intentionally targeted” at a group of primarily “foreign born” or “African American” drivers, the judge didn’t go for it.

“The regulations at issue are ‘facially neutral’ and there is no suggestion that they have
been discriminatorily applied,

“DCTC is delighted that the judge agreed with our position and found the lawsuit had no merit and was dismissed,” DCTC spokesperson Neville Waters said in an email.

The attorney representing the drivers was not immediately available to comment.