Hertz clarifies coverage for workers after Puerto Rican man was denied rental automobile

Hertz has rewritten a few of its insurance policies to make it clear to workers that Puerto Rico driver’s licenses are legitimate types of identification for automobile leases, and that Puerto Ricans don’t want to supply additional proof of ID within the U.S. The transfer comes after a Puerto Rican man was denied a automobile rental when Hertz workers demanded to see his passport as an alternative of his license.

The incident occurred on Might 10 at Louis Armstrong New Orleans Worldwide Airport when Humberto Marchand was denied his Hertz rental car after displaying his Puerto Rico driver’s license. The Hertz worker demanded to see Marchand’s passport, which he was not carrying as a result of Puerto Ricans are U.S. residents, rendering a passport pointless for journey within the U.S.   

In response, Jenniffer González-Colón, Puerto Rico’s congressional consultant, wrote on to Hertz CEO Stephen Scherr final week, saying that it was “unacceptable that, greater than 100 years after acquiring U.S. citizenship, Puerto Ricans are nonetheless discriminated towards and handled like second-class Americans.”

González-Colón additionally referred to as on Scherr to “take into account implementing a company-wide academic marketing campaign that adequately addresses this discrimination that far too many Puerto Ricans have skilled — with your enterprise and others — to make sure it doesn’t repeat itself.”

In a response to González-Colón, Scherr wrote that it was the corporate’s coverage that “a driver’s license from Puerto Rico is, by itself, a legitimate type of identification to hire a car in america and is due to this fact handled no in a different way from any U.S. state driver’s license.”

“Since this incident occurred, we’ve taken a number of steps to make sure that our workforce is best educated on our identification insurance policies,” Scherr wrote. “This consists of rewriting a coverage to be much more clear concerning the standing of Puerto Rico and different U.S. territories, disseminating written and verbal communications from Hertz senior management to our area and call-center groups, and including this matter to in-person area huddles.”

Along with the problems Marchand had with Hertz, a Kenner police officer who responded to the incident additionally informed Marchand to depart. Marchand mentioned that, as he was strolling away, he heard the officer say he would name “the border authorities.” 

A police spokesman for the Kenner Police Division mentioned that remark wasn’t heard on physique digicam video from the encounter. It is unclear, nonetheless, when the officer turned the physique digicam off after responding to the incident.

Marchand has since filed a grievance and that officer is the topic of an inner investigation.

Hertz apologized to Marchand and refunded him for the automobile rental.

In an analogous incident final month, a Puerto Rican household touring from Los Angeles to Puerto Rico wasn’t allowed onto a Spirit Airways flight as a result of their toddler didn’t have his passport, which he didn’t want. That household ended up paying for a dearer flight on Jet Blue in an effort to get to Puerto Rico. 

Spirit has apologized to the household, refunded them for the flight and supplied them with future journey vouchers, the airline mentioned.

Learn the letters from González-Colón and Scherr in full beneath. 

— David Begnaud contributed reporting.