001 Taxis gives driver lifetime ban from company following allegation of sexual assault

A 001 Taxis driver has been given a lifetime ban from the company, after an allegation of sexual assault was posted to social media over the weekend.

001 Taxis is an official partner of Brookes Union, operating the Safe Taxi Scheme.

In a post on Facebook, Brookes Union said it had met with the company after becoming aware of the allegations, and confirmed the taxi driver had been immediately suspended by the company.

001 Taxis told The Tab Brookes said the suspended driver has now been removed – which means he is unable to “engage with” the company and has been given a “lifetime ban from 001 Taxis.”

It said it “does not tolerate” incidents of this nature, and takes customer safety very seriously.

Brookes Union said the taxi journey had not been booked under the Safe Taxi Scheme, which has drivers who are DBS checked and specially trained in working with Brookes students and the Safe Taxi system.

It said it has requested Safe Taxi drivers have refresher training and encouraged students to continue to use the scheme. It said if anyone has any concerns around the drivers’ conduct, they can contact the Union where complaints will be “investigated and dealt with promptly and confidentially”.

Brookes Union said: “We were yesterday made aware of allegations of sexual assault by a 001 taxi driver. As 001 are an official partner of the Union operating the Safe Taxi Scheme, this has been of huge concern to both the Union and 001 Taxis. We are united on our zero-tolerance stance on sexual assault and misconduct.

“The Union has met with 001 to discuss the incident and how we move forwards with this. As has already been stated, we can confirm that the driver in question was suspended immediately and removed from 001’s network. In addition, the council who licence the specific taxi drivers have also been informed.”

The Union went on to say: “The Union is very satisfied with how 001 have responded to this incident, which was not booked under the Safe Taxi Scheme.

“We continue to encourage students to use the Safe Taxi service for the following reasons: Safe Taxi drivers are specially trained in dealing with Brookes Students and the Safe Taxi system.

“Safe Taxi drivers are licensed exclusively by Oxford City Council using enhanced DBS checks and not other surrounding districts so they are more familiar and experienced with the local area and the needs of our students.

“Safe Taxi is accessible to all students 24/7 and available when you don’t have the funds to get home safely.”

Going forward, Brookes Union said: “Moving forwards we have requested that all Safe Taxi drivers have refresher training and are working with 001 to make the Safe Taxi scheme available for cash bookings.

“Due to the relationship we have with 001, if you have any complaints or concerns regarding the conduct of 001 taxi drivers moving forwards, please contact us at the Union and we can ensure this is investigated and dealt with promptly and confidentially.”

When contacted for comment, 001 Taxis said: “We take complaints of this nature very seriously and do not tolerate this at 001 Taxis.

“When Brookes Union initially notified us of the allegation posted on social media, we suspended the driver from our systems and now have removed the driver partner from our systems resulting in him not being able to engage with our company- this will include a lifetime ban from 001 Taxis. We have also escalated this to the relevant licensing authority.

“We have attempted to contact the complainant through Brookes Union but have received no response and to date have not received any formal correspondence on this incident. We continue to work with Brookes Union to ensure that all passengers using our services can do so understanding how seriously we take customer safety.”

To find about more about Safe Taxi click here. If you have concerns or need support, email Brookes Union on [email protected].

Stock featured image via Lexi Anderson on Unsplash