Interesting Taxi Driver Case in Portland, Oregon

In December of 2011, the city of Portland had to rescind a ban on allowing tax drivers to renew their taxi permits using power of attorney.  The city was sued by 11 taxi drivers and owners who felt the policy was unfair and was a thinly veiled attempt to “squeeze out” airport taxi drivers.

The taxi drivers and owners involved in the litigation stated that they sometimes have to return to their home country of Somalia for long periods of time, during which their taxi license may come up for renewal.  They use a power of attorney to allow someone else to renew their license on their behalf.  The ban had made this impossible to do because it required them to renew their license in person.  One of the drivers in the case returned to the U.S. during the ban and found that his permit had expired and he was unable to continue employment as a driver in the city.  State law requires that power of attorneys be accepted, so the now defunct Portland law violated that.