NM Shuttle Firm: Sorry for Treatment of Gay Couple

The company that runs the shuttle service to the Albuquerque airport's rental-car center is apologizing after a driver allegedly ordered a gay couple to sit in the back of the shuttle bus.

Standard Parking Inc. says it respects the equal rights of all customers and doesn't tolerate discrimination of any kind.

It also says the employee was suspended after the company learned in July of the late June incident.

According to a police report, one of the men involved said they'd been holding hands and that the driver ordered them to the back when one of them started to sing.

The Albuquerque Journal reports the city's Human Rights Office will look into the incident.

The apology comes as the New Mexico Supreme Court considers a case involving another Albuquerque business, Elane Photography, after its owner declined to shoot the commitment ceremony of a lesbian couple.