On July 1, 2013, Cohen & Malad, LLP and the ACLU of Indiana filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of taxi cab drivers whose taxi permits were seized and who were prevented by police from picking up passengers they had dropped off at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Indy 500 Race Day.
The lawsuit alleges that as many as 80 cab drivers had their permits seized. Diedra Warren, Brian Thompson, and Charlie Key, all licensed taxi cab drivers who are plaintiffs in the lawsuit, had driven a number of people to the track on race day and arranged to pick them up on Main Street in Speedway following the race. But when they returned to the spot where they had arranged the pick-up, Speedway officers seized their taxi permits, and instructed them to leave the area or risk being arrested. The taxi cab drivers were required to leave the area and return to the Speedway Police Department to recover their permits several days later. When the drivers returned to retrieve their taxi permits, Speedway Police Department issued them $50 parking tickets.
The lawsuit alleges that the actions of the Speedway Police Department violated the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution because seizure of the permits was not warranted, justified or reasonable, and violated due process.
Cohen & Malad, LLP and the ACLU of Indiana request damages for the cab drivers’ missed work time when the drivers were deprived of the possession of their taxi permits.