MONTREAL — Since January, a City of Montreal regulation has been imposing a dress code on taxi drivers: they must dress cleanly, wearing a white shirt and long black pants.
But one cabbie says it’s application is arbitrary.
READ MORE: Montreal taxi drivers to adhere to dress code
In the past twenty days, El Meliani has received two tickets from the taxi bureau for improper attire.
El Meliani says he was wearing clean, black jeans on both days, yet he was fined $174.
El Meliani maintains that all that is mentioned in the law is ‘long black pants’.
One lawyer says that from a legal perspective, there’s no reason to interpret jeans as being excluded.
“Jeans are pants, and since the regulation doesn’t specifically prohibit jeans, I would say its a-okay,” said Alissa Stachrowski, a lawyer at Mitchell Gattuso.
WATCH: Taxi drivers going to and from the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Airport will have to adhere to a business casual dress code starting in the fall. Global’s Gloria Henriquez reports.
Now, El Meliani is fighting the city and the taxi bureau, sending formal notices demanding the retraction of the rule.
El Meliani isn’t alone in wanting the rule gone.
“Sometimes you work 10-11 hours, the white t-shirt it gets really dirty,” said taxi driver Mesr Dashty. “I do believe you have to dress well.”
This sentiment is reflected by the very people the law aims to protect.
“I really don’t care what they wear,” said one Montreal taxi user. “As long as it’s clean and it looks decent, it’s fine.”
Global News reached out to the taxi bureau who confirmed that they received a legal notice from El Meliani, but said they couldn’t comment further on his case.
El Meliani says that if he does not receive a satisfying response by next Friday, he’ll seek an injunction before the courts.