TAXI DRIVERS STRIPPED OF LICENSES AFTER ARRESTS APPROACH $140 MILLION SETTLEMENT. (PHOTO).

 Taxi drivers stripped of licenses after arrests approach $140 million settlement

Nearly 20,000 current and former New York City cabdrivers whose licenses were suspended following an arrest could receive up to $140 million from the city after it was found that taxi regulators failed to provide a meaningful appeals process for suspensions.

The settlement stems from a class-action lawsuit filed nearly two decades ago and could rank among the largest payouts in the city’s history, depending on how many drivers file claims. In a Manhattan courtroom, Judge Richard J. Sullivan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit said he intends to approve the settlement for drivers arrested between 2003 and 2020 whose licenses were suspended by the Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC). Preliminary approval was issued in May, and the judge said the matter of attorney fees will be resolved in the coming weeks.

Payouts will be based on the length of a driver’s license suspension, with those unable to work for a year or more eligible for up to $36,000 before lawyers’ fees and expenses. The TLC noted it revised its disciplinary practices in 2020 after the Second Circuit ruled that the previous appeals process was unconstitutional. Under the updated policy, the agency must consider whether a driver poses a “direct and substantial threat to public health or safety” before deciding on a suspension.

The class-action suit, initially filed in 2006 by suspended drivers and the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, argued that suspensions were applied regardless of whether the arrest was related to taxi work. Drivers could request hearings, but rarely had the opportunity to present evidence or witnesses, and suspensions were only lifted if cases were dismissed or charges reduced.

Bhairavi Desai, head of the Taxi Workers Alliance, described the prior hearings as “a joke” and said drivers felt targeted, while lawyer Daniel Ackman noted that more than 90 percent of charges against drivers were later dismissed or reduced. Since the policy change, successful appeals have risen from virtually zero to nearly 85 percent.

Parichay Barman, a former taxi driver, said his license was suspended in 2017 after a minor accident at LaGuardia Airport. He was unable to work for five months and had to rely on credit cards and loans from relatives. Nearly a decade later, he hopes to receive almost $30,000 through the settlement.

Some plaintiffs have retired, died, or moved abroad, and unclaimed funds will be redistributed to remaining claimants or returned to the city. Lawyer Shannon Liss-Riordan called the settlement “a long-overdue recognition” for drivers who were unfairly stripped of their licenses following arrests.