A blind woman has claimed she was ‘purposely’ dropped off by an Uber driver more than a mile from where she was supposed to go.
Dr. Kamille Richardson of Raleigh, North Carolina, was born blind, leaving her unable to drive and dependent on others for transportation.
She booked an Uber from home last Sunday to take her to the Verizon store in town, noting in her profile that she couldn’t see it.
Dr. Richardson said the Uber driver walked her to the door, but she quickly realized she was at a apartment complex instead of the store.
Kamille Richardson (pictured) of Raleigh, North Carolina was born blind, which left her unable to drive and dependent on others to transport her
She said the driver dropped her off at an apartment complex instead of the Verizon store, which was more than a mile north of her intended destination.
She told the local Fox affiliate WRAL: ‘I say this isn’t the right place and he says, well, I have to pick someone up from the airport and he leaves and runs away.’
She said she was terrified because she was unfamiliar with the area and didn’t know how to get home. “I couldn’t even tell you where I was around. I didn’t know the area.
“He just dropped me and ran,” she said. ‘It’s shocking. It’s terrifying to the mind.’ Dr. Richardson is taking legal action.
Her lawyer, Aviance Brown, said they want Uber to change the way they deal with customers with disabilities so they are not put at risk by the drivers.
‘This is not the first time that people with disabilities have found themselves in a vulnerable situation. It happens every day,” Brown said. Dr. Richardson says she is still reeling from the situation.
‘How can you abandon someone like that? I knew well and truly that I wasn’t in the right place,” said Dr. Richardson.
Dr. Richardson is the Chief Executive Officer of iSee Technologies, which provides DEI training solutions for businesses.
It comes after Uber’s recent earnings report fell below investor expectations due to a rise in legal costs and reduced demand for rides in certain regions.
Legal challenges from taxi drivers in Australia and London, along with scrutiny from the worker classification regulator, have added to the pressure.
Pictured: A map of where Richardson was dropped off and how far away her intended destination was
Weak demand and losses from devalued investments further impacted performance.
While Uber improved its operating profit by $172 million from the previous year, which was higher than an operating loss of $262 million in the same period last year. However, these numbers were still less than half of what analysts expected for that measure.
Uber posted a net loss of $654 million this quarter, while they lost $157 million last year. DailyMail.com has contacted Uber for comment.