Uber settles lawsuit with DOJ over alleged disability violations

Uber on Monday reached a settlement with the Department of Justice over accusations that the ride share company overcharged passengers with disabilities.

The big picture: The Justice Department sued Uber in November, alleging that the company violated the American Disabilities Act by charging "wait time" fees to passengers with disabilities who need more time to get into vehicles.

Driving the news: Uber will pay more than $2 million as part of the settlement agreement.

• About $1.7 million will go to more than 1,000 passengers who complained to the company that they were charged wait time fees due to a disability. Another $500,000 will go to other harmed individuals, according to a DOJ press release.
• Uber will also waive wait time fees for future passengers that certify that they or someone they frequently travel with need more time to get into a vehicle due to a disability, as well as ensure that refunds are easily available.
• More than 65,000 riders who signed up for the waiver program will also receive a credit to their accounts for double the amount of wait time fees they were ever charged.

What they're saying: "People with disabilities should not be made to feel like second-class citizens or punished because of their disability, which is exactly what Uber’s wait time fee policy did," Kristen Clarke, an assistant attorney general in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said in a statement.

• "This agreement sends a strong message that Uber and other ridesharing companies will be held accountable if their services discriminate against people with disabilities," Clarke added.

Go deeper: DOJ sues Uber for allegedly overcharging people with disabilities