Two Men Sue Taxi Company, Claim Cabbie Kicked Them Out For Kissing
CHICAGO (STMW) -- Two men who say they were kicked out of a cab while on their way to Lakeview from O'Hare are suing the taxi company, alleging that the brief kiss they shared prompted the driver to throw them out in a suburban grocery store parking lot.
The suit, filed Monday in Cook County Circuit Court by Matthew McCrea and Steven White, states that as the two were riding in a cab from O'Hare into the city in May 2013, McCrea leaned in and gave White, his boyfriend, "a simple, one second in length, kiss," the suit stated.
After the peck, the cab driver flashed the vehicle's interior lights on and off repeatedly. The driver then pulled onto the shoulder of the Kennedy Expressway – while it was dark and raining – and told the two to exit the cab, the suit stated.
The men refused to get out, and the driver merged back onto the Kennedy, "driving recklessly, swerving into traffic," the suit stated. He then exited at Cumberland in Park Ridge, by which point, White had called 311 and was transferred to 911.
The driver eventually stopped the vehicle in a grocery store parking lot in northwest suburban Park Ridge, the suit said. When police arrived, the driver told an officer that McCrea and White had been "making sex" in the cab, they claim.
The Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection later fined the driver $1,540 for violating parts of the city's municipal code, including driving unsafely, refusing service and discourteous conduct.
The driver, a cabbie for eight years who was not named as a defendant, previously told the Chicago Sun-Times he wasn't kicking out his passengers when he pulled off the highway. He was annoyed because they wouldn't stop kissing.
"I told them to stop," he said. "It was raining. I couldn't drive with something like that. I have to drive safely because it's raining."
A representative from Sun Taxi could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
The single-count suit alleges a violation of the Illinois Human Rights Act and seeks an undisclosed amount in damages.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2014. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)