For example, some people carrying wine back from California say cabbies have discriminated against them. Blind people with service dogs say some taxi drivers won't take them either. It's discrimination, they say.
And a third claim of discrimination is being made by Muslim cab drivers themselves - the people the first two groups say are discriminating against them.
Confused? Here's some background.
Seventy percent of the some 900 cab drivers serving the airport are from Somalia. Most Somalis are Muslim. Some drivers, not all, say their faith forbids them from carrying passengers traveling with alcohol. And some are reportedly refusing to carry people traveling with pets or service dogs.
MAC officials say they've received over 5,000 complaints since 2002 on the issue. Most of the complaints are from passengers being refused service because they were carrying alcohol.
The MAC is proposing to increase the penalties for cabbies who refuse fares for reasons other than safety. On the first offense, the MAC would suspend a cabbies airport license for 30 days. If there's a second offense, the MAC would revoke the license and the driver would not be able to reapply for two years.
Currently, if cabbies refuse service for any reason other than safety, they are sent to the back of the taxi line. It can take up to three hours to make it to the start of the line again. Cabbies say though they lose out on money and time, they can live with the system and don't see a need to change it.
About 200 people turned out for Tuesday's hearing. As the it wore on through the afternoon, more than 70 people had testified.
Hassan Mohamud, of the Somali Institute for Peace and Justice, told the panel the proposed penalties are too harsh for the Somali immigrants.
He confirmed that for Muslims, there is a universal religious prohibition against alcohol. But he said there is nothing in Islamic faith about dogs.
He appealed to the MAC to consider the American legal principal of reasonable religious accommodation, and to find another solution.
"I think it's appropriate to respect what (the cabbies) are asking for," Mohamud said. "If it's not undue hardship to the company. And I don't think it is."
Source: MPR, Feb 28, 2007