Transit driver dismissed after rowdy ride

A late-night bus driver in British Columbia was fired after passengers on his route got rowdy.

Being a resort town, Whistler, B.C., operates under a social contract that encourages late-night partying and provides safe, after-hours passage home. This usually makes bus drivers the front-line caretakers of rambunctious passengers, often colloquially referred to as a "zoo" by transit employees.

Tim Welsman was one of the drivers for Whistler Transit assigned to a late-night route in November 2014. At one stop, one passenger sought to distract Welsman as others, many of whom were inebriated, boarded without paying. A short time later, the culprit exited the bus and his friends began to swing and hang from the hand rails.

Welsman made an abrupt emergency stop to tell the group of passengers to hold on and be safe. The incident became heated, and the group of riders began to yell and curse.

The so-called troublemakers exited the bus at the following stop, threatening, kicking and spitting at the bus, and swearing along the way. Welsman visually swept the bus for any apparent injuries but, finding none, continued on his route, despite protocol.

Whistler Transit dictates that any emergency stop should be followed up by a walk-through, to scope out any injuries. Welsman, however, testified he became resentful of the "bus-load of drunks," a situation that had worsened over the years.

Driver fired

One week after the events, Welsman was fired, prompting the union, Unifor Local 114, to file a grievance.

Upon reviewing the incident, management determined there was no justifiable reason for the emergency stop and, further, the driver had endangered passenger safety and failed to follow correct procedure.

One passenger, an athlete, later reported a minor injury to his knee.

Welsman opted to punish, not protect, certain passengers without regard to the safety of other riders, the employer said. The incident was not reported until he was prompted by his manager, and he did not accept responsibility for his actions —something that had now become rote.

As such, the employer felt it was right to fire him.

In Welsman’s mind, nothing occurred that warranted an incident report. He did not see any injuries and was not informed of any.

According to the union, he had a clean driving record and there were two versions of events on the night in question, and testimony from a rowdy group of passengers could not be more credible than the driver himself.

Yes, Unifor conceded, Welsman was irritated, but it was by no means "malicious." Therefore, there was no cause for discipline and dismissal was excessive.

Arbitrator James Dorsey agreed with the employer.

A reckless and unjustifiable emergency stop, without regard for risk of injury, demonstrated a cavalier approach. Not reporting the incident only intensified the cause for discipline.