Companies like White & Blue “have been forced to repeatedly slash daily lease rates to compete,” it continues. “Despite this, there are still not enough drivers willing to lease medallion taxicabs at any price, resulting in ‘taxicab graveyards’ scattered throughout New York City.”
Other plaintiffs include individual medallion owners, the Taxi Medallion Owner Driver Association, and credit unions that give loans based on medallions. For instance, LOMTO Federal Credit Union has 628 medallion loans totaling about $138 million.
The suit states that NYC government misled them about the value of the medallions. It also states there’s no reason to regulate medallion taxicabs, which can only charge a regulated metered fare, differently than “for hire vehicles” like black car services—or Uber—which can vary fares with market demand.
The complaint argues that the disparate regulation violates the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment. In addition, it claims that the city has allowed Uber to “usurp and trespass upon the exclusive property rights of Credit Union Plaintiffs and Medallion Owner Plaintiffs,” which constitutes an unconstitutional “taking” under the 5th Amendment.