Black man accused of being illegal cab driver after investigators saw him dropping off his white wife at work

Dan Keys Jr., 66, dropped off his wife Symone Palermo, 53, at work in Queens, New York and was promptly stopped by authorities

He was driving a black Town Car and his wife had been sitting in the back because rainwater had made the front seat wet the day before



They 'accused him of running a cab service without being licensed - and even when Palermo arrived, they failed to believe they were married'

They served them summonses 'containing false information and kept their car for a week'

The couple is now suing the Taxi and Limo Commission for $3 million



A black man has been accused of being an illegal cab driver after city investigators spotted him dropping of his white wife to work, their lawsuit has revealed.

Dan Keys Jr., 66, and his wife Symone Palermo, 53, have accused the Taxi and Limousine Commission of racially profiling them and serving them with false summonses - even though they repeatedly insisted they were husband and wife. They are suing the TLC for $3 million.



Mr Keys, a car salesman, was driving his wife's black Town Car to take her to work in Flushing Queens last year. She sat in the backseat because rain had made the front passenger seat wet the night before, their lawsuit said.



Stopped: Dan Keys, who is black, was shocked when authorities pulled over his black Town Car and accused him of being an illegal taxi cab driver after he took his wife, who is white to work (file picture)

After dropping her off at her job at Bob's Discount Furniture, Mr Keys was pulled over by investigators and accused of using his black Town Car as an illegal cab, the lawsuit claimed.

They had mistaken Palermo, who is actually biracial, as being white and assumed she was a customer, the suit claimed, DNAinfo reported.



'Upon information and belief, when attempting to identify illegally operated taxis, it is the official policy or custom of [the city and the TLC] to instruct its employees to target and single out vehicles operated by minorities with white passengers,' the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit claims that investigators lied and claimed that a 'white female' passenger had told them that he was indeed an unlicensed driver.

Even when Palermo joined them in an attempt to clear up the misunderstanding, the investigators refused to believe them and they were served with summonses with false allegations, the suit said.

Workplace: His wife had sat in the back of the car as he took her to her job at Bob's Discount Furniture in Flushing, Queens because the front seat was wet from rainwater, they say in a lawsuit

'Once they pulled over my clients, [the investigators] had many opportunities to let them go - to realize they pulled over the wrong people,' the couple's lawyer, David Haber, told DNAinfo.



'Instead they doubled down on their mistake. I believe that they flat-out lied in their summonses.'



A city administrative judge ruled in the couple's favor and dismissed the summonses - but investigators kept hold of the couple's car for a week until the case was over.

