WASHINGTON — Empower’s CEO appeared to relent, agreeing last Tuesday to end his rideshare app’s operations in DC after a series of threats and sanctions were issued against him and his company by a DC Superior Court judge, including a potential jail sentence.
Judge Shana Frost Matini looked to escalate CEO Joshua Sear’s punishment and the sanctions against his company last Tuesday after Empower allowed its drivers to continue offering rides inside the District nearly 10 months after the company had been ordered to allowing rides inside Washington, D.C.
Empower had been originally ordered in November 2024 to end operations in D.C. after allegedly refusing to register with the District’s Department of For-Hire Vehicles and failing to follow D.C. Code and municipal regulations…