Passenger Accuses D.C. Uber Driver of Kicking Him Out of Car for Being Gay

A bartender from Washington, D.C., says he was kicked out of an Uber last month because he is gay, according to Metro Weekly.

Chris Williams said that when his shift ended June 27, he requested an Uber to drive him home. During the ride, he called his grandfather just before things turned left.

“[My granddad] asked me how my night was, and the first thing I say is, ‘Ooh, darling, it has been a night,” Williams told Metro Weekly. “‘Oh, it’s been busy with all this crazy.’”

Williams said that once he said “darling,” the driver pulled over and ended the ride.

“As soon as [the driver] heard the word, darling, he has to pullover…I’m like, wait, this is new. This isn’t my stop,” Williams said. “He said, ‘You literally actually need to get out of my car, because I’m not taking you anywhere.’ And, so I’m looking at this man, like, what, wait a minute. What’s wrong?”

Williams said that the driver called the police on him when he tried to reason with him to find out why he was being kicked out of the vehicle.

The bartender filmed the encounter and posted it on Facebook, where it’s received over 8,000 views after the police arrived.

“The way that you just treated me right now and I just sat here and looked at you and told you what the f*ck is going on, and you want to sit here and be a bigot? Go ahead,” Williams says in the video.

A police report wasn’t filed over the matter, according to Metro Weekly.

An Uber spokesperson told Metro Weekly that it has “a clear non-discrimination policy and take these types of reports very seriously. We have a dedicated team that investigates all reports of discrimination and will take appropriate action.”