Page 9 - Desert Oracle June 2020

an "on-demand van.'' Rose Daly-Rooney, the organization's legal director, told Capitol Media Services the

move ends a 2015 lawsuit filed against the company accusing it of illegal discrimination against those with
disabilities.

There was no immediate response from the attorney for the company, though federal court records say

there was an agreement which was sealed as confidential.

That deal, the court file says, does mean each side will bear its own legal fees. And Daly-Rooney said

there was no admission of guilt.

This deal affects only Total Transit and its companies, including NExT, the National Express Transit corp..
But Daly-Rooney said she believes it will serve as a wake-up call of sorts for other taxi firms that still try to

charge extra for people who need an accessible van.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of two individuals who use power wheelchairs and the Paralyzed Veterans
of America.

Attorneys said their clients require a taxi that has a ramp or lift to be able to get in. They said the company,
operating at the time under the name Discount Cab, provided them -- but only if the customer paid that $10

charge for each trip.

That, they argued, violates state and federal disability laws.

Total Transit, which now operates as Total Ride, fought back, filing a counterclaim saying that barring it

from charging the fees to customers with disabilities "would adversely affect'' the company's business.

More to the point, the firm's attorney said his client might simply decide the best way to avoid being
accused of charging a discriminatory fee might be to not provide on-demand services at all. He argued --

and the challengers did not dispute -- that nothing in the law requires Total Transit to have such vehicles.

Daly-Rooney said the issue from her organization's perspective is even more basic than that.

"There is a duty to provide reasonable modifications,'' she said. "One of those would be to waive a

generally applicable fee when it's an extra charge for people with disabilities.''

She said it's no different than a hotel that might charge a extra cleaning fee for someone with a pet.