A disgruntled taxi driver who took his employer to court over a more than 14-day suspension had his case dismissed by a judge Dec. 4. North Shore Taxi suspended Mosayeb Nazari, owner and operator of a taxicab with the company, of driver's privileges after he used foul language when talking to the dispatcher. Nazari filed a Notice of Civil Claim on Oct. 17, 2012, denying allegations that he used abusive language or behaved inappropriately and seeking damages for loss of income and costs.
North Shore Taxi had suspended Nazari's dispatch services, or de-authorized him, at the end of January 2012 for more than 14 days. Nazari argued the company had no evidence for the suspension.
When a driver is deauthorized, their taxi does not receive computer messages from the dispatch computer, leaving the driver responsible for finding his or her own fares and unable to accept payments by credit card. De-authorization applies only to driver and not to vehicle, allowing another driver to take over operation of the taxi.
The general manager informed Nazari that he would have to appear before the safety and operations committee on Feb. 1, 2012. When Nazari failed to appear, he was asked again to appear on Feb. 10. After failing to appear yet again, Nazari's taxi was deauthorized for a second time. On Feb. 15, 2012, Nazari finally appeared before the committee but was deauthorized for a third time after the committee deemed his conduct inappropriate.
In a letter from the general manager to Nazari dated March 2, 2012, the company asked Nazari to enroll in an anger management program and to provide proof of completion. Nazari attempted to appeal to North Shore Taxi's board of directors on March 7, 2012 and appeared before the board five days later only to have his appeal dismissed.
