Florida man says Uber driver asked for sex in exchange for free ride
A man from Orlando, Florida, has said that an Uber driver offered to perform a sex act on him in exchange for a free ride.
Matthew Marston told WESH 2 News that he booked the Uber on Monday morning (November 12) to take him to work.
He said the Uber driver accepted his ride request, before sending him a lewd message.
The Uber logo is seen outside the Uber Corporate Headquarters building in San Francisco, California. (JOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images)
“Hey, I’ll give you a free ride if you let me [commit a sexual act],” the driver’s message reportedly read.
Marston cancelled his ride and was hit with a fee.
Man says he’s had no previous problems with Uber
“I was shocked. It felt uncomfortable,” Marston told WESH 2 News.
He said he regularly used Uber and had never had any issues in the past.
An Uber car. (VASILY MAXIMOV/AFP/Getty Images)
“Of course I cancelled the Uber,” he told the news station.
“But I was uncomfortable calling another Uber. You know, I was thinking about calling out of work.”
Marston explained that he had tried to contact Uber to report the message and get a refund but hadn’t managed to speak to anything.
Uber spokesperson says company refunded cancellation fee
“It was a $5 fee for canceling it. That’s why I’ve been trying to get in contact with them,” he said.
WESH 2 News phoned the driver who made the sex offer, but only got through to voicemail.
An Uber spokesperson told WESH 2 News that the $5 cancellation fee had been refunded to Marston and that it was investigating the driver.
The spokesperson added that the company was looking into whether someone else sent the messages from the driver’s account.
In June, a lesbian couple was allegedly thrown out of an Uber car in New York for kissing.
In a shocking video posted on Facebook, the two women – Emma Pichl, 24, and her girlfriend Alex Iovine, 26 – can be seen being told by driver Ahmad El Boutari that their kiss was “illegal.”
The couple was travelling through New York when they claim El Boutari saw them sharing a moment and stopped his car before forcing them out and calling the women “disrespectful.”
It is the latest in a series of incidents in which Lyft and Uber drivers have ejected same-sex couples for showing affection, including a gay couple who were left on the side of the road in Texas at 4am earlier this year.
