Fighting Back Against the Great Complainer
Cabdriver George Ijewere faces the Great Complainer at 400 W. Superior
By: Jonathan Bullington
Back in September, 2007, the Chicago Dispatcher did a story entitled “The Great Complainer” about a Chicago resident, Jeff, and his one-man mission to file complaints against cabdrivers. Since first learning about the complaint system in early 2007, the Great Complainer has filed 1,000 or so complaints against cabdrivers. Most of these complaints are for drivers parked illegally on the 500 block of West Madison or West Monroe, areas ripe with cab traffic.
Since I wrote the story about the Great Complainer, I've had a few drivers tell me how he's filed complaints against them that they believe are erroneous. One such driver is Mr. George Ijewere, who received a violation notice for a complaint made by the Great Complainer. In it, the Great Complainer said, “Driver was parked in a tow zone and blocking right lane of traffic. Informed driver of both and he refused to move. I told I was going to report him and he said 'go ahead.'”
Ijewere's story is a bit different, however. According to him, he was dropping off a passenger at the time of the complaint. At no time, Ijewere said, did anyone approach him asking that he move. He maintained he never spoke with the Great Complainer.
Ijewere took his case to hearing, refusing to accept the city's deal of pleading guilty in exchange for a verbal warning. “I will not plead guilty to something I didn't do,” he defiantly said. At the hearing, the Great Complainer stuck to his story, re-iterating that he saw “numerous cabs lined up on the right side of 555 W. Monroe,” and that he wrote down Ijewere's cab number.
In his testimony, the Great Complainer answered yes when asked whether or not he confronted Ijewere directly, yet he couldn't remember what he looked like. He also couldn't describe Ijewere's cab, other than to say it was yellow and had a top light, and couldn't remember whether or not he saw Ijewere drop off any passengers.
At that point, Ijewere started to build his case. You see, his cab is not your standard Crown Victoria. Ijewere owns and drives a Honda Odyssey, a very distinct-looking minivan with tinted windows. Therefore, Ijewere argued, how could the Great Complainer claim to have confronted him without being able to describe what he looked like or any detail about his car? Surely he would have been able to remember the fact that it was a van? Plus, with the tinted windows, how could the Great Complainer know there weren't passengers in or exiting the cab as he took down its number?
Administrative Law Officer Charles F. Fitzgerald agreed with Ijewere, finding him not liable for the violations. But, how many drivers would have found the courage to take the risk of challenging this complaint the way Ijewere did? Not that I would blame them, but how many drivers, despite being innocent, would have taken the verbal warning to save time and avoid paying a fine?
