Hertz clarifies policy for employees after Puerto Rican man was denied a rental car

Hertz has made it part of its policy to make it clear to employees that a Puerto Rican driver’s license is a valid form of identification for rental cars and that Puerto Ricans are not required to provide additional identification in the United States. I rewrote the part.there was a man Denied rental car When a Hertz employee requests a passport instead of a driver’s license.

The incident took place at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport on May 10, when Humberto Marchand was denied a Hertz rental car after presenting his Puerto Rican driver’s license. Hertz employees demanded Marchand’s passport, but Marchand did not have one because Puerto Ricans are American citizens and no longer require a passport to travel to the United States.

In response, Puerto Rican Congressman Jennifer González Colón wrote last week directly to Hertz CEO Stephen Shah, saying, “More than 100 years after becoming a U.S. citizen, Puerto Ricans are still being discriminated against. , being treated like a second is unacceptable.” -Class American Citizens. ”

González Colón also told Cher, “Consider implementing a company-wide educational campaign that will adequately address this discrimination experienced by too many Puerto Ricans, so that your company and others do not repeat this discrimination. We will consider not doing so.”

In a reply to González Colón, Cher said, “A Puerto Rican driver’s license is itself a valid form of identification for renting a car in the United States and is therefore no different from a Puerto Rican driver’s license. It is the company’s policy that it will be treated without US state driver’s license. ”

“Since this incident occurred, we have taken multiple steps to ensure that our team is better trained in our identification policies,” Shah wrote. “This includes rewriting our policy to provide greater clarity on the situation in Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories, disseminating written and verbal communications from Hertz senior management to our field and call center teams, and bringing this topic to our attention. This includes adding to in-person gatherings on site.”

In addition to the troubles between Ms. Marchand and Hertz, the Kenner police officers who responded to the incident also instructed Ms. Marchand to leave. Marchand said he heard a police officer say to “call the border authorities” as he was leaving.

A Kenner City Police Department spokesman said there were no comments on body camera footage from the encounter. However, it is unclear when officers turned off the body cameras after responding to the incident.

Marchand has since filed a complaint and the officer is the subject of an internal investigation.

Hertz apologized to Marchand and refunded the car rental fee.

There was a similar incident last month involving a Puerto Rican family traveling to Puerto Rico from Los Angeles. Not allowed to board Spirit Airlines flight Because their toddler didn’t have a passport and didn’t need it. The family ended up paying for a more expensive JetBlue ticket to go to Puerto Rico.

Spirit has apologized to the family, refunded the ticket and provided a ticket for future travel, the airline said.

Read the full letter from González Colón and Cher below.

— David Begnaud contributed to the report.