Cab driver Medhat Mohamed has been given a bad rep for kicking a couple out of his cab, and now the NY Post's Andrea Peyser is standing up for him — giving him a lexical embrace, if you will.
After Paul Bruno (who she dubs as "media savvy") and his partner were asked to leave Mohamed's cab last week for what they say was just a hug, the couple filed a claim, accused the driver of discrimination, and contacted the press. By week's end they even had Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Mayor Bloomberg labeling the driver as a "disgrace."
However, the driver says he would have done the same thing had it been a heterosexual couple, since their actions (which he says went beyond hugging) were distracting him from driving. He posed the question to Peyser: "Losing your job, or losing your life — which one is better?"
Peyser paints the picture of a hard-working, 38-year-old immigrant who is expecting his first child with his wife next month... which does make it difficult to discover he has already lost his job. He also may have his license revoked by the TLC, but Mohamed says he doesn't blame his former boss for telling him not to return to work, saying, "He doesn't want trouble."
Has the city judged too soon, and too harshly? Peyser asks: "If you support Medhat Mohamed, let your voice be heard. Call 311 and let the city know how you feel."
