Union cites remorseful worker’s 'trust equity' over 15 years with transit company
Fifteen years of service, customer commendations, and a clean disciplinary record for two years weren't enough to save a Metro Vancouver transit operator who violently assaulted a passenger after a fare dispute escalated.
Arbitrator Jitesh Mistry upheld the termination of the driver on Feb. 5, 2026, finding that a single violent incident, captured on video and reported, irreparably destroyed the employment relationship despite significant mitigating factors.
The Oct. 1, 2024 incident at Coast Mountain Bus Company began when a passenger boarded the bus without fare. The driver told the passenger to get off because the bus was full and he already had "a bunch of people that had paid."
After the passenger said words to the effect of "This is why people like me stab people like you" and threw a plastic juice bottle that ricocheted off the driver's barrier, the driver exited the bus and chased the passenger, threw him to the ground, and kicked him at least once while other riders watched.
He then exited the bus two more times to confront the passenger and later failed to fully report his actions to his employer.
Video contradicts worker’s story
The incomplete incident reporting proved fatal to his case. The driver told Coast Mountain's Transit Communication Centre that he had been assaulted and was trying to detain a dangerous passenger. The video footage told a different story.
The arbitrator noted that the driver did not report “that he closed the doors on the passenger and physically assaulted the passenger multiple times." Instead, the driver "reported himself as the protagonist seeking to detain an unruly and dangerous passenger."
The bus operator admitted in cross-examination "that he was aware he was to report what occurred during the workplace incident accurately and that he withheld relevant information."
This incomplete reporting compounded the underlying misconduct in the arbitrator's analysis.
A shuttle bus driver's concerns about privacy violations as part of his termination were recently denied by British Columbia's Supreme Court.
‘Trust equity’ has limits
The union in the Vancouver case argued that the driver had built substantial "trust equity" through 15 years of employment and had received numerous customer commendations. Under the collective agreement's sunset clause, his record was technically clear after two years without discipline.
An independent medical examination found he "was unlikely to engage in this type of conduct again" and that he did not have a disabling medical condition. The driver attended counselling and expressed extreme remorse at the hearing.
But Mistry found these factors insufficient. He wrote that this "egregious and repeated conduct has left the relationship of trust mortally damaged such that the accumulated trust equity has been exhausted." The arbitrator concluded he would "reach the same finding based on the assault of the passenger alone."
A Newfoundland transit operator who grabbed a passenger by the throat and was headbutted in return recently lost his job, with an arbitrator ruling that his actions constituted workplace violence despite his claims of self-defence.
Pattern of confrontation seals fate
Despite the sunset clause, the arbitrator considered three prior coaching incidents from 2022-23 where the driver yelled at teenage passengers, berated a motorist, and asked a passenger to leave the bus after being told to calm down. After each incident, he promised it wouldn't happen again.
The employer had issued an "Assault Bulletin" in 2019 warning: "Any employee who leaves the driver's seat to confront a member of the public can expect a suspension. If that confrontation results in an assault against the member of the public, termination will be the likely result."
Mistry also found that the employer provided adequate training on de-escalation, including refresher sessions and materials titled "Turn the Page, Disengage — Preventing Violence in the Workplace."
