Chicago Taxi Driver Kicks Out Two Men Following A Short Kiss, Taxi Company Sued

Two Chicago men have decided to pursue legal action against a taxi Company after they were reportedly “kicked out” of a cab by the taxi driver who saw them kissing inside the vehicle. According to Yahoo News, Matthew McCrea and Steven White have filed a lawsuit against the taxi operator Sun Cab and are seeking an undisclosed amount as damages. The lawsuit filed at the Cook County court states that the incident happened after the duo got in to the cab at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. The duo were headed towards McCrea’s apartment in Chicago’s Lakeview area.

While inside the cab, McCrea leaned over and gave a short, “simple, one second kiss” to White, who also happens to be his boyfriend. Seeing this, the cab driver reportedly flashed the interior lights of the vehicle – possibly in an attempt to let the couple know that what they were doing was deemed inappropriate by him. Following the kiss, the taxi driver pulled over the vehicle on to the shoulder of the Kennedy Expressway and asked them to exit the taxi. According to the men, it was “dark and raining” when the taxi driver asked them to get off the vehicle.

The two men however refused to get off the taxi following which the agitated driver merged back in to the traffic “driving recklessly and swerving”. An alarmed Steven called up 311 – a call which was transferred to 911 subsequently. The duo finally got off near Cumberland in Park Ridge, near the parking lot of a suburban grocery store. When police officers reached the cab, the driver told officials that he had objected to the fact that Mc Crea and White were “making sex” in the cab.

According to The Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection later also imposed a fine of $1,540 on the driver. This was because he violated several parts of the city’s municipal codes. These included driving unsafely, refusing service and discourteous conduct.

The taxi driver responsible for this has not been identified and has not been named as a defendant in this case. He is reportedly a veteran cabbie with over eight years of experience driving cabs. The taxi driver had in the past clarified that he was simply annoyed by the conduct of his passengers who according to him “would not stop kissing”

“I told them to stop. It was raining. I couldn’t drive with something like that. I have to drive safely because it’s raining.”

Who do you think is at fault here? The taxi driver or the passengers?

[Image Via Wikimedia Commons]