‘Today’ Show’s Al Roker Files Complaint after Taxi Driver Allegedly Bypasses him for White Customer

Al Roker, the weatherman on NBC's "Today" show, has filed a complaint with the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission. The 61-year-old TV personality claimed that a taxi driver purposely skipped him and his 13-year-old son in order to pick up a white man.

Roker first spoke of the complaint when he tweeted, "Filed a complaint today after getting passed up again by a NYC Yellow cab. Cabbie picked up a white guy a block away. Wonder why Uber wins?"

He added that even though many New York City cab drivers do their job, "there are those ignorant, racist ones who hurt the others."

What really hurts, my 13 yr. old boy was with me and asked why the cabbie passed us. I said, "Nick, ignorant people make dumb choices"

— Al Roker (@alroker) November 22, 2015

Roker said that he would be keeping his followers updated on the complaint.

Hopefully @nyctaxi weeds out the bad apples. Looking forward to a hearing and dealing with this. I will keep you posted — Al Roker (@alroker) November 22, 2015

The NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that Roker's complaint was received.

"We've already been in touch with Mr. Roker and ID'ed the driver," Allan J. Fromberg, the commission's deputy commissioner of public affairs, said. "We're in the process of finalizing the penalty and the driver will face significant monetary fines for his inappropriate behavior."

Fromberg revealed that the penalty could range from a fine to the suspension of a license. Factors that will affect the severity of the punishment include driver's history and record. It is illegal for cabbies to turn down customers based on race, disability or destination within New York City."

Taxi and Limousine Commission chair Meera Joshi also confirmed the claim in a statement to the New York Daily News.

"Service refusal goes to the core of the taxi industry's social contract with the riding public and it will not be tolerated," Joshi said. "We're grateful that Mr. Roker took the time to file a complaint, and I can assure him that we will investigate this thoroughly and take every appropriate action."

The location of the event is unclear.