A Little Rock taxi driver filed a lawsuit against the city Wednesday for refusing a permit to his company, Ken’s Cabs. The case alleges the City of Little Rock granted the Greater Little Rock Taxi Service, LLC, or the "Yellow Cab" company, an unconstitutional monopoly.
Driver Ken Leininger is represented by local attorney Chris Burks of the Sanford Law Firm, who is working in partnership with the Institute for Justice, a Virginia-based, libertarian-leaning legal group.
"The people in Little Rock should be able to choose which taxi service they want to use," he said. He added that Ken's Cabs offers hybrid vehicles. "They're low emissions and they're great for the environment."
Libertarian and progressive values converge in the case, according to Burks. He said he believes such regulations can hurt diversity.
"Monopolies and poor regulations harm all. Particularly they harm minorities. They harm small, lower-income business owners. They harm African-American business owners, Hispanic business owners," he said.
Leininger said he applied for a permit to operate his company early last year and was rejected by the Little Rock Board of Directors.
The case was filed in Pulaski County Circuit Court. City officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
