Two brothers of Ethiopian descent sued Dan because they claimed the driver refused to put them on the bus because of their origin.
The legal aid at the Ministry of Justice filed the lawsuit today (Sunday) in the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court under the Prohibition of Discrimination in Products, Services and Entry into Entertainment and Public Places Law.
As part of the lawsuit, Dan is asked to pay the brothers compensation in the total amount of NIS 174,382 for violating the Anti-Discrimination Law, the mental anguish caused to them and the fact that this is the second time that a serious incident of discrimination has occurred on behalf of bus drivers.
This is the second time that legal aid has filed a lawsuit against the Anti-Discrimination Act against the bus company;
The previous lawsuit was also filed on behalf of boys of Ethiopian descent that the company driver refused to put on the bus due to their origin, and ended up paying compensation to the boys and an apology from the bus company.
According to the lawsuit filed by attorneys Brihan Abu Qaoud and Neta Barak from Legal Aid, the incident took place in early May 2021. The two brothers, aged 15 and 13, waited at a bus stop in Bat Yam and waited for the daily bus to the school where they study.
Along with them waited their friend who is not a member of the Ethiopian community.
Ministry of Justice, Oren Ben Hakon
According to the lawsuit, since the 15-year-old brother's multi-line ticket was emptied, he agreed even before the bus arrived with his friend that he would pay for it.
When the bus arrived and the three asked to get on, the driver asked if they had a multi-line, and when the friend replied that he had one and he would also pay for the 15-year-old brother, the driver asked the three of them to get off the bus.
He then just called for a friend to come up again, closed the doors and drove away leaving the two brothers stunned in the street.
Immediately upon starting the ride the friend asked the driver why the two brothers were not allowed to get on and repeated what he was about to pay through his multi-line (the younger brother had a multi-line and was about to pay for himself, YG), the driver replied that he did not agree to get on The brothers because "Ethiopians never pay."
The friend tried to confront the driver about his statements, but it refused to hear him, asked him to move forward to sit down and continued driving.
Since the brothers were not allowed to get on the bus to the school, they were late, and the big brother was even late for the test scheduled for the beginning of the day.
Immediately after the test, he and his friend approached the class educator and together they told him about the incident that took place.
Shortly afterwards, the older brother updated his mother, who contacted Dan's public inquiries center and uncovered the details of the serious case, demanding that she take significant steps against the driver and act to prevent the recurrence of such cases at the bus company.
About three weeks later, the mother received a letter in response to her request, in which the Dan company clarified that "the driver is obligated to drive all passengers and behave politely and she apologizes for the inconvenience caused."
The mother filed a complaint with the government unit to coordinate the fight against racism in the Ministry of Justice, and after examining the complaint it was decided to refer her to legal aid in order to examine the possibility of filing a claim under the Anti-Discrimination Act on behalf of the brothers. The lawyers from the legal aid contacted Dan and asked for their attention to the matter, but the company chose not to respond to the inquiries, and from there the lawsuit was filed.
