Ottawa taxi driver out of work after refusing to move for ambulance
An Ottawa taxi driver will no longer be allowed to work for his company and his taxi licence has been suspended after he refused to move for an ambulance and went on an expletive-laden rant, all captured in a video posted to YouTube.
Hanif Patni, president and CEO of Coventry Connections, said the Capital Taxi driver would not co-operate with an internal investigation after he was caught arguing against moving his taxi stationed in front of the Rideau Centre on Wednesday.
Patni said the driver declined a meeting with company officials and he "will not be allowed to work" for Blueline, Capital, DJ's or Westway taxi services. Patni's company runs the dispatch system for all of those taxi operators.
The company can't fire the man because drivers are not employees.
Earlier on Thursday Patni told Robyn Bresnahan, host of CBC's Ottawa Morning, that the behaviour caught on the video was "completely unacceptable."
He noted the irony that a worker in what he called one of the most diverse workforces in the city would be shouting racist curses.
"We were appalled just like anybody else would be," said Patni.
City, cab company both hand down suspensions
He said both Coventry Connections and the City of Ottawa bylaw department have the power to discipline and potentially dismiss the taxi driver.
Later on Thursday, the city used that power to also suspend the driver's licence.
In the video, a security guard and several other taxi drivers can be seen talking to the driver in an attempt to get him to move from his spot in anticipation of an ambulance that was coming to the Rideau Centre to assist a woman inside the building.
The driver, while acknowledging he would move when the ambulance arrived, went off in a rant against the security guard and several others who attempted to calm him down and get him to move before finally driving off.
Patni also confirmed a Blueline driver caught on YouTube arguing with a bylaw officer has been charged with acting discourteously in front of a customer.
WARNING: Video below contains extremely coarse and offensive language.
