Uber Driver Fired For Peeing In Bottle With Woman In Car: Report

NEW YORK, NY — A New York City-based Uber driver was kicked off the ride hailing platform after a passenger caught him peeing in a bottle during their ride, a spokesperson for the company said in a statement.

Passenger Raichelle Carter, a chef at Paint 'N Pour in Harlem, first told Gothamist that she recorded her Uber driver relieving himself after being picked up in Midtown. When Carter got in the car she was sharing the ride with two other passengers, but when the two others left the car the driver decided he could sneak a quick bathroom break, she told Gothamist.

"We're in a minivan," Carter told Gothamist. "I had my headphones on and I wasn't really paying attention, but around 80th Street and First Avenue I noticed we're not moving. So I take one earbud out and I hear the urine hitting the bottle. I have brothers, I was raised by all men, so I've seen it done before. Not by choice, but I know what's going on."

Carter said that she was dropped off at her destination about five minutes after she caught the driver and that she immediately called Uber to complain. She also told Gothamist she is considering filling a police report against the driver.

An Uber spokesperson said in a statement: "This is completely inappropriate and a clear violation of our community guidelines. The driver's access to the app has been removed."

The Independent Drivers Guild — a union that represents more than 65,000 for-hire drivers in New York City — condemned the driver's actions as "totally unacceptable and inappropriate," but said the act "underscores the very real problem of lack of restroom access that plagues professional drivers."

A spokesperson for the union said in a statement that there are only 19 relief stands — parking spots where drivers can stop to use the bathroom — serving nearly 80,000 for-hire vehicle drivers in Manhattan. The union is pushing the city Department of Transportation to add at least 10 more relief stands in the borough for drivers.

Read Carter's full telling of the story on Gothamist.

Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images News/Getty Images