April 2023 The Westchester County Taxi and Limousine Commission (the “WTLC”) routinely seized and impounded for-hire vehicles without a warrant and without any recognized exception to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement. These seizures are based on the WTLC’s so-called Vehicle Immobilization Program (“WVIP program”). This program purported to allow the WTLC to place a boot…
March 2025 The City of New York has agreed to pay $140 million to a class of 19,000 taxi drivers in settlement of a decades-long class action lawsuit in which a federal appeals court ultimately found that the City’s Taxi and Limousine Commission systemically violated the cabbies’ rights to due process of law. The settlement…
February 2024 The Taxi and Limousine Commission sought to revoke Raj Saini’s taxi driver’s license and even his vehicle license when it learned of his 2015 conviction for indecent assault in Pennsylvania pursuant to TLC Rule 68-14(a)(3). The driver argued that that Rule 68-14(a)(3) does not apply to his Pennsylvania conviction, and that the TLC…
Summary Judgment Brief, 2016
Appeal Brief, 2010First Department Decision, 73 A.D.3d 435 (1st Dep’t 2010)
November 2023 On November 13, ten taxi drivers whose licenses were summarily suspended by the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission appeared before a federal jury in Manhattan seeking damages in a civil rights lawsuit that dates back to 2006—and the jury ruled in favor of all ten and awarded each substantial damages. The ten drivers’…
On May 5, the Law Office of Daniel Ackman filed a new class action lawsuit in federal court seeking a ruling that the TLC may not suspend a drivers license without a hearing solely based on a driver’s arrest. Ackman alleged that the TLC’s current practice of suspending without even a cursory review of the…
New York County Supreme Court Decision, NYLJ March 17, 2000
July 2019 Nnebe v. Daus; Stallworth v. Joshi UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT August Term, 2018 (Argued: January 14, 2019 Decided: July 19, 2019) Docket Nos. 18-866-cv (L); 18-1254-cv (XAP); 18-490-cv JONATHAN NNEBE, KHAIRUL AMIN, EDUARDO AVENAUT, NEW YORK TAXI WORKERS ALLIANCE, individually and on behalf of all others similarly…
February 2020 United States District Court, E.D. New York. Rizwan RAJA, Plaintiff, v. John W. BURNS and the City of New York, Defendants. 19-CV-01328 Signed 02/05/2020 Attorneys and Law Firms Daniel L. Ackman, New York, NY, for Plaintiff. Emily Kate Stitelman, Jerald Horowitz, The City of New York Law Department Office of Corporation Counsel, New York, NY, for…
December 2018 After a lesbian couple accused an Uber driver of evicting them from his car and after they posted a video of their berating the driver on social media, the story was reported around the world, leading to the TLC summarily suspending the driver without any investigation whatsoever. After a ruling that strongly suggested…
August 2022 In this action, Rizwan Raja, a longtime industry representative entitled to appear for clients at the OATH Taxi and Limousine Tribunal, was awarded summary judgment on his claim that defendants’ suspension of his right to practice without a hearing denied him due process of law. Following that judgment, Raja and defendants agreed to…
January 2023 Ackman and the firm of Wolf Haldenstein are representing buyers of taxi medallions at auctions organized and promoted by the City of New York and the City’s Taxi and Limousine Commission. In two separate lawsuits, the medallion buyers allege that the soon after selling the medallions the systemically destroyed medallion values by licensing…
These twin actions challenge the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission’s practice of suspending the license of any taxi drivers who has been arrested, but who has been convicted of nothing. After the suspension, the TLC offers the cabbie a putative “hearing” to determine whether that suspension should be continued based on a driver’s…
Rothenberg v. Daus challenged the TLC’s practice of automatically revoking the license of any taxi driver are convicted of an off-duty crimes or who fails a drug tests, despite the absence of any evidence, or even allegation, that the driver harmed or threatened harm to any passenger or was ever impaired while on duty. In…
For years, the City of New York and the TLC routinely seized automobiles that it suspected were operating for-hire without a license. They did so without a warrant, without a pre-seizure hearing, and without judicial imprimatur of any kind. It would then hold the vehicles effectively for ransom until the owner pleaded guilty and paid…
This federal class action successfully challenged a policy instigated by Mayor Giuliani—dubbed Operation Refusal— by which the TLC suspended hack licenses without hearings, confiscated taxicabs and sought license revocations—all for a single alleged service refusal offense. At least 100 drivers had their licenses revoked; more than 500 were summarily suspended. Judge Dearie held the hearing…
NYC settles with TLC cabdrivers for $140M in back pay in long-running lawsuit
