A Taxi & Limousine Commission policy mandating independent medallion owners drive their cabs or face hefty fines is “discriminatory” and violates their civil rights, a new lawsuit contends.
A dozen independent owners of medallions not affiliated with a taxicab fleet and an advocacy group which supports these owners slapped the city and top Taxi & Limousine Commission honchos on Wednesday with a Manhattan federal court lawsuit seeking to overturn the longstanding policy.
Among the plaintiffs are Loubert Alexandre, 55, of Queens, who has been driving a taxi with his independent medallion since 2001. He suffered severe neck and back injuries in a 2010 accident that forced him to lease his medallion to another party – and has since racked up $10,500 in fines from TLC for failing to drive a taxi for the mandated 180 nine-hour shifts per year.
“Plaintiffs have a property interest in their independent medallions,” the suit says. “They are deprived of their full property interest by the unreasonable limits the ‘owner-must-drive policy’ places on their efforts to make a living through the use of their medallions, and by the fines imposed for violations of the policy.”
“An independent medallion owner will usually have to borrow a substantial amount of the purchase price,” the suit adds. “In addition, the medallion often represents an independent medallion owner’s single most important asset and is the primary source of income for the independent medallion owner and his/her family.
“In short, the medallion is often central to the economic life of an independent medallion owner.”
The suit seeks to overturn the regulations, an injunction preventing TLC from continuing to enforce it and unspecified money damages. The defendants include TLC Commissioner Meera Joshi and her deputy, Raymond Scanlon.
The average purchase price for a medallion last year was $967,000, and most independent owners are first-generation immigrants from Haiti, Jamaica, India, Pakistan and other foreign countries, the suit says.
The city and TLC did not immediately return messages seeking comment.