A Black mother and daughter have filed a lawsuit against Uber after one of its former drivers was caught on camera shouting the n-word several times at them.
It all started on Mother’s Day Weekend when the two women were driving from Atlanta, Georgia to Charleston, South Carolina. Their car broke down in Aiken, South Carolina, so they called an Uber to get them to their final destination.
Jovene Milligan, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said the driver, identified as “Daniel” in his profile, asked them where they came from after stating that he was from Great Britain. When the two referred to themselves as African Queens, that’s when things took a turn for the worst. The driver went into a racist rant and repeatedly called the women the “n-word.”
The driver then began speeding and swerving on Interstate 20.
With one of her hands resting on the gun, Milligan remembers telling her 30-year-old daughter, Ghiana Gardner, “This could go bad. So just be prepared.” Then, they closed their eyes and began to pray, as reported in The State.
Milligan and Gardner filed a lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court against both the driver and Uber after their 59-mile trip the Friday before Mother’s Day weekend left them fearing for their lives.
An official from Uber said the man has been banned from the company.
“Everyone has a right to feel safe when using the Uber platform and what these riders experienced is extremely upsetting,” the spokesperson told The State via email. “We have a clear non-discrimination policy and we have removed this driver’s access to the app.”
Milligan told WSAV News that in addition to his rant, he refused to let them out of the car. And like so many of us, the women are wondering how a man like that even got cleared to drive in the first place.
“I’m not sure how extensive the background checks are but this person is not somebody that should be driving anybody,” she said. “We were not treated with any type of respect.”