Uber Driver Says He Was Wrongfully Terminated for Denying Rides to Unmasked Riders

The COVID-19 outbreak of 2020 has certainly thrown us all for a loop. While the clear heroes here are those who put themselves on the frontline treating people with the virus, there are also a lot of other people who go to work every day and risk their own health.

From grocery store clerks to hair stylists and waiters, anyone who interacts with customers can potentially contract the virus. That’s why it’s more important than ever to follow policies such as wearing masks to protect the health of others.

But what if your company doesn’t have a clear mask policy in place? For example, Uber drivers can’t force their riders to wear masks—but it makes sense that they’d want to.

One Uber driver named Danny Darling felt uncomfortable when riders would get into his car—his personal vehicle, for that matter—without wearing a mask in the middle of a pandemic. But asking people to put one on never had the most pleasant results.

“I would get the middle finger, I would get my car kicked, I would get my car punched, I would be called so many names,” Danny said. “One guy even spit on me. Spit on me in the middle of a pandemic!”

He was forced to cancel rides for people who didn’t comply with wearing a mask. Thankfully, as of June 1, Uber began to add a feature that required customers to agree to wear a mask before they got in the car.

But Danny said that didn’t always work. In fact, it worked against him in one incident when a rider complained that Danny was demonstrating “unsafe practices” and “problematic behavior.”

Thanks to those complaints, Danny was terminated from Uber after two years of working for them.

“I was under the assumption that Uber would protect me right now. I was wrong,” he said.

Uber has stated that the termination had “absolutely nothing to do with canceling trips on riders not wearing masks” and that there were “several reports of verbal behavior.”

Danny has filed an appeal with Uber. We’ll keep you posted on how that goes! In the meantime, check out the video below to hear from Danny himself.

What do you think of people refusing to wear masks while getting a ride from an Uber driver? Would you wear a mask in this case?