BOSTON (Legal Newsline) - A complaint filed in the Massachusetts Superior Court in Suffolk County says that an American Way Transportation driver used racial slurs against a Black passenger.
Plaintiff Gloria Avila was being transported by the defendant, which primarily offers non-emergent medical transport, from the Spaulding Rehabilitation Center to her home on January 17, 2020, according to a March 29 lawsuit.
Avila says that she often experiences nausea due to her health conditions, and attempted to eat while being transported to help with the queasiness.
According to the complaint, the driver began to yell at Avila that there was no eating allowed in the vehicle. When the vehicle stopped for another passenger, Avila says that the driver denied her request to get out and quickly eat something in a hostile manner.
As the nausea progressed, Avila again tried to eat something while she was being transported. She says that the driver then began to yell again, allegedly calling Avila and the other passenger "stupid," "dumb n****rs," "dumb monkeys," "black bitches" and "chimps."
Avila charges the defendant with civil rights violations, intentional infliction of emotional distress, assault and battery. She is represented by the Tennyson Law Firm of Hull.