The Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights believes that Uber drivers should help with bags on airport runs. She says hers was a “modest carry-on” and believes it matters that the driver at least presented themselves as male. And boy do I have questions, not least of which is her expectation of a “colorable excuse” from an Uber driver who failed to lift her suitcase.
Your able-bodied (seemingly) male ride-share driver to the airport doesn’t lift a finger to help put your modest carry-on luggage into the trunk on either end of the trip, nor offers/explains any colorable excuse.
How does this affect your tip, if at all?
— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@HarmeetKDhillon) August 23, 2026
Was this UberX or Uber Black? There’s very little difference these days other than vehicle type. Uber was once only Uber Black, professional drivers picking up extra trips during downtime between scheduled rides. It’s supposed to be a profesional driver, with longer wait times.
Honestly the real value at this point is at LAX where they can pick up at the terminal rather than shunting you off to the LAXit lot which is better to walk to but involves an miserable shuttle ride. Officially it offers luggage assistance, while UberX does not as a service standard.
Does the fact that the bag was a “modest one” mean it’s more reasonable to expect the driver to handle it, or more reasonable to expect the passenger to do so unassisted? She clearly believes the former, but it also means that the assistance matters less.
Does the driver’s gender change the expectation? And isn’t it weird for the chief civil rights enforcer of the federal government to be stereotyping “Your able-bodied (seemingly) male” and inferring physical capacity from appearance and gender?
And when the Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights publicly calls out a company over their service, is there an implied threat? Is it their position that’s lodging the complaint, or is this coming just from the customer? Does it matter that they tweeted from their personal account, which identifies their official government account rather than from the account representing their government position itself?
Meanwhile the tipping discussion here is an interesting one because Uber’s implementation of tipping actually was a way to pay drivers less.
- It simply shifted the burden of pay more directly on the customer. Uber reduced driver pay precisely because customers would top off the amount the driver got directly. Tipping was a cost-saving tool for Uber, not something that increased income to drivers.
- In fact, it’s even more than this because psychologically drivers overestimate the value of tips they’ll receive. They’re more motivated by the possibility of tips than higher trip fees, accelerating the way that the platform can reduce its driver costs – as Uber’s founder explains:
Delivery app tipping isn’t about feedback mechanisms.. it’s a tool for maximizing price paid by consumers… eaters are economically irrational with tip, for every $1 in tip, they economically behave as if it were $0.80 (directionally true but hypothetical figure) … this means…
— travis kalanick (@travisk) November 19, 2025
It seems to me that the official overseeing the Justice Department’s pending $125 million civil-rights lawsuit against Uber shouldn’t be posting service complaints about them shortly after personally participating in mediation with the company. Publicly shaming a litigation opponent over an unrelated service complaint, and having the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights stereotyping the driver by sex, is problematic and gives the appearance of personal animus (and therefore lack of impartiality in the case) and government intimidation.
In the pre-Uber days, taxi companies added a surcharge for bags handled by the driver. When I have a heavy bag, I frequently ask the driver if we can lift it into the trunk together. I also expect that my tips will be higher in such a case. (BTW, I typically start with 10% rounded up to the next dollar. For extra services like baggage handling, I add $1 or $2).
THAT’S A THING NOW? LEVERAGING THE FULL WEIGHT AND FORCE OF OUR US GOVERNMENT BECAUSE YOU ARE EXPECTED TO HANDLE YOUR OWN BELONGINGS ? ARE YOU GOING TO WRITE A PROFANE SCREEN ON US GOVERNMENT LETTERHEAD ABOUT YOUR PERSONAL BUSINESS? WELL, WE HAVE OURSELVES TO BLAME: AFTER ALL, WE ELECTED THESE PRINCES AND PRINCESSES WITH FULL KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE OF WHAT THEY ARE CAPABLE OF.
Pretty sure she was saying the driver was “seemingly” *able-bodied*, which is why the criticism about not helping her with the bags.
The president is treating the DOJ as his personal law firm to go after his perceived enemies and anyone who defies him with spurious charges and threats, so the rest of the administration following his lead should come as no surprise to anyone.
“Seemingly” male driver? I thought this administration was trying to be very clear who is male and who is female. The snowflake administration.
they really do get you on the food delivery tips
supposedly, the driver can see what your pre tip is so you risk not even getting food delivered or delivered by the worst deliverers and now, I simply can’t find anything post delivery if the delivery was bad to change the tip. It’s like Uber has completely removed that ability to reduce tip if the driver did a poor job.
” Seemingly male” lawsuit price 125 million. “Seemingly female ” lawsuit price $ 250 million.
What an American problem!! In the poor “third world” drivers will always help you. Entitled drivers, who sit and do nothing but expect a tip, are very rare
Of course, @Derek McGillicuddy — THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER.
She is correct . Taxi drivers always help with bags . Calvin Coolidge had a legitimate complaint when a New York taxi driver drove off without first loading his bags , leaving his bags behind . Calvin Coolidge established this American precedent .
Looking forward to Season 1 of “Nazi Hunters 2029.” Release date January 20, 2029.
She’s just asking about tipping expectation, from her personal account. Lighten up, Francis. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
My experience is that Uber drivers in Los Angeles almost never get out of the vehicle to help you with your bags.
Good post! In New Zealand, tips are not recommended, although it’s optional. Individuals are paid a living wage. Therefore, the system does not create havoc like tipping in the US does. Less friction. More harmony.
There is simply too much to unravel here;
1) Chivalry v. Expectation of a service (Chivalry is of course deemed sexist unless it benefits the other party if and when they choose) Landmine!
2) Inability of the current state of the union to identify gender unless it supports a particular theme
3) Frivolous lawsuits – tort reform needed so loser pays!
4) the only one that could possibly benefit from this debate are lawyers
5) mis-guided priorities of the justice enterprise
Etc, etc, etc.