NJ taxi service ordered to pay $42K for refusing to give deaf woman a ride

CLIFTON — A Passaic County taxi company has been ordered to pay $42,692 in civil penalties after employees refused to schedule a cab for a deaf woman who was waiting in heavy snow after her bus was delayed on a cold January day.

On Monday, authorities said a Superior Court judge entered a default judgment against Clifton Taxi and Limousine Inc., saying the company violated state laws protecting people with disabilities when it repeatedly hung up on a deaf woman who was using a call relay service to request a cab.

The lawsuit, which was filed by the state in Passaic County Superior Court, says that on Jan. 21, 2014, Nicole Perkins of Jamaica, New York, called Clifton Taxi three times through a relay service for deaf callers. The suit states that Perkins had been waiting for a bus in Clifton that was delayed during heavy snow in Passaic County, which caused a state of emergency to be declared in New Jersey, authorities say.

According to the original complaint, Perkins contacted a relay operator, who called the taxi company twice, explaining that she was assisting a deaf person. Each time, the state alleged, an employee from the company answered the phone, but hung up without responding.

“When the relay operator called for a third time, someone at Clifton Taxi again picked up the call and responded, ‘Please stop calling,’ then hung up again,” the Attorney General’s Office said. At that point, Perkins stopped trying, according to authorities.

The judgement, which was filed on Sept. 6 and signed by Judge Thomas J. LaConte, orders the cab company to pay a total of $42,692. Of that $6,000 will be paid to Perkins for emotional distress. They will also be required to pay $16,692 in attorneys' fees and an additional $20,000 in civil penalties to the state.

The company has also been ordered to establish a written policy addressing accommodation of disabled customers or potential customers. Clifton Taxi was also given 60 days from the time the judgement was signed to train all managers and employees on accommodating disabled customers.

Toniann Antonelli is a social content producer for NJ 101.5. She can be reached at toniann.antonelli@townsquaremedia.com, or on Twitter @ToniRadio1015.