New York

Yellow Taxi Driver Fined $25K for Refusing to Pick up Black Executive, Her Kids: Report

A yellow cab driver was fined $25,000 for refusing to pick up a black finance executive and her two children in Herald Square, according to DNAinfo.

A judge ruled that cabbie Baqir Raza discriminated against Cynthia Jordan and her children outside the 34th Street Macy’s in October 2013 by telling them he was off-duty when they tried to hail his cab.

DNAinfo reports that he locked his doors when they tried to get in the vehicle, then drove down the street about 25 feet, where he picked up two white women.

After Jordan realized what Raza had done, DNAinfo reports, she ran up and confronted the hack. She decided to report the taxi driver at her daughter’s urging.

Included in the penalty are $15,000 in civil fines and $10,000 in compensation to Jordan’s family.

Jordan, a vice president at a stock transfer firm, told DNAinfo said that she hoped Raza learned something from the judgment.

“I’m happy for the judgment,” Jordan told DNAinfo New York. “Hopefully, someone will hear about this, and it will affect the way taxi drivers pick up fares in New York.”

Raza, who was fined $200 in Nov. 2013 for the violation by the city Taxi and Limousine Commission, declined comment to the news website.

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