Austin man upset at Uber drivers who turn him away because of his service dog

AUSTIN, Texas — A south Austin man says Uber drivers turn him away because of his service dog -- and he's angry.

Jesus Baeza finally got so frustrated he got video of a driver declining him a ride because of his dog.

He took the video on a brilliantly sunny February day when he went to H-E-B to pick up a prescription with his service dog.

“Let's see if they don't bail out like always. I got Nike here,” he says in the video.

Baeza is legally blind but has some vision in the sunlight. But he says he has trouble getting rideshares because of his dog.

“Nike’s his name, 75-pound yellow lab been trained by Guiding Eyes for the Blind,” he said.

Being refused a ride happens too much for Baeza and Nike.

“It's pretty consistent. It's been going on maybe since Uber started here in town,” he said.

In the video, a Honda pulls up to Baeza standing at the curb.

“Are you Jesus?” the woman asks. “That's me,” he answers.

But immediately she says she doesn’t want the dog in her car.

“Some people don't like animals so, with the hairs on the chair,” she said, refusing the ride. Baeza replied, “Yeah, but he's a service animal.”

“I understand that, but some people are allergic,” she replied.

“So, you're saying no,” he answered. “Yeah sir, I’m going to, I’m going to let you get another car, ok?” she said.

Uber told CBS Austin that's not ok in a statement:

"Drivers who use the Uber app agree to accommodate riders with service animals and comply with all accessibility laws. This driver no longer has access to the app."

An Uber spokeswoman added: “

In addition to complying with the law, our Community Guidelines prohibit discrimination in serving riders with disabilities.

We investigate reports of service animal denials and take appropriate action, including up to removing the driver's access to the app, in accordance with our US Service Animal Policy.

When entering into a technology services agreement with Uber, driver-partners agree to transport service animals and operate in compliance with all applicable accessibility laws. Driver-partners also receive quarterly email reminders about Uber’s US Service Animal Policy.”

But if this sounds familiar -- you're right. Uber got sued by the National Federation of the Blind in 2015, for refusing service animals.

“It's shocking that that's still occurring. The National Federation of the Blind had a legal agreement with Uber to stop this kind of discrimination,” said NFB public relations director Chris Danielsen.

That agreement expired last summer -- but now the NFB is collecting information on refused rides again in a survey.

Meantime, here in Austin, Baeza says up until now, Uber has given him a $15 credit for his complaints. But he wants the company to do more.

“I would love to get some legal help if I could to pursue this matter.”