Should she get her job back?

[eddad]

I personally don't think so,the gesture was made in front of children..........

Read on and give your take.......


School bus driver fired after flipping off president wants job back

Updated: 4:10 p.m. ET Nov 2, 2006
SEATTLE - A school bus driver fired after she reportedly made an obscene gesture at President Bush has filed a union grievance in an attempt to get her job back.

The 43-year-old driver, whose name was not released, was driving middle school children back to school after a zoo visit on June 16 when the president and Republican Rep. Dave Reichert drove slowly by in a motorcade.

From the bus, the children waved; with the windows down in their car, Bush and Reichert waved back.



That’s when the driver gave the president the finger, according to Reichert and Issaquah superintendent Janet Barry.

“The congressman hadn’t seen it, but the president turned to him and said, ‘That one’s not a fan,”’ said Reichert spokeswoman Kimberly Cadena.

Reichert later called Barry to tell her about the incident, but the bus driver had already been fired. District officials learned about the incident after the driver boasted to colleagues about it, Cadena said.

District spokeswoman Sara Niegowski said the driver has filed a wrongful termination grievance through the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The union did not return calls seeking comment.

Niegowski said the firing was not politically motivated.

“The bus driver was not terminated for making an obscene gesture at the president. The bus driver was terminated for making an obscene gesture in view of the students,” Niegowski said. “That’s not the role modeling we need for our students.”

 

[Mackey Mouse]

"The bus driver was terminated for making an obscene gesture in view of the students,” Niegowski said. “That’s not the role modeling we need for our students.”

I do think she showed very poor judgment in front of the children who are in her care while she is driving that bus.....maybe keep both hands on the wheel and not giving the bird out the window to anyone....Inappropriate and as far as getting her job back, I am not so sure what she did should warrant her being permanently fired, maybe suspended from her job without pay for a period of time....and some retraining for her job...

 

[DisneyBlonde]

No, she should not.

 

[lovesmurfs]

No. No.

No.

 

[Scutapipig]

I think she was wrong and agree with her being fired.

My reasons are:

1) She did it in front of the children and children are impressionable. Middle school children are exploring their independence as it is, and I can't even begin to imagine a whole bus of children modeling her behavior and flipping off other drivers as they return home from school and thinking its acceptable behavior.

2) As a parent, I wouldn't want her to continue to drive my children to/from school since I usually don't have reason to fly the finger unless I'm pretty darn angry. Now we're going into anger issues and that, mixed with children, doesn't sit well with me.

Edited to add: I'm pretty certain that most schools have a zero tolerance policy on behaviors such as this for students and it would be difficult to enforce this with students if the adults working with the district don't follow the same rules.

 

[christineann]

No, no matter who she was directing the gesture to.

 

[JennyMominRI]

No she shouldn't get her job back.

 

[eddad]

Do you think forced anger management classes might be a good way for her to be penalized without termination?

(Edited to add)Of course with some kind of probation attached after completion of said courses.

 

[Chuck S]

I don't think she should be permanently fired. These were middle school students who surely had seen such a gesture before, just not from a bus driver. There certainly was no "permanent damage" to the students, even though a bus driver flipping someone off isn't a good example for the kids, not every driver (or teacher for that matter) sets a great example all the time, and they aren't terminated.

 

[Mackey Mouse]

I must be from MA......and I am usually such a toughie where these things are concerned, I am actually a little surprised at the responses here.....maybe I am not as conservative as I think I am..

 

[poohandwendy]

No, she should not get her job back. I don't think it is unreasonable to expect the people who drive our children to behave more maturely and responsibly.

 

[jiminy]

I am not a Bush fan by any means, but I would never be disrespectful enough to flip him or anyone else off for that matter. Especially not in front of children. (maybe at home at the t.v. when noone else is around--heehee). j/k I do not think she should get her job back. She showed poor self control in committing the act and again in boasting about it.

 

[Scutapipig]

Do you think forced anger management classes might be a good way for her to be penalized without termination?

(Edited to add)Of course with some kind of probation attached after completion of said courses.

I agree that might be an alternative, but I would think the district and/or union would need to look at her record to see if there are other issues that are on file. Is her file clean and was this a one-time spur of the moment oops, or is this an ongoing issue?

 

[poohandwendy]

I agree that might be an alternative, but I would think the district and/or union would need to look at her record to see if there are other issues that are on file. Is her file clean and was this a one-time spur of the moment oops, or is this an ongoing issue?

I am all for giving people a second chance when they make a mistake, but the deal breaker for me is that she didn't do an 'oops', giving someone the finger isn't an unintentional thing. It is a blatant disregard for her position. Had she accidentally broken a rule, that would be different, IMO

That is why I think she should not get her job back.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

If you violate the policies of your employer and get fired..I am not going to defend you unless their policies are unreasonable.

1. Firing for inappropriate conduct is not unreasonable to me in this case regardless of to whom it was directed. What if she got mad when someone cut her off and instead said "You f****** moron!"?

2. As a govt employee--on the clock was not the time to express her personal views for a govt official. JMHO.

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

Did the children actually see the gesture? I'm thinking about the way most buses are set up and most of the ways I picture it her hand is in front of her body.

If she "privately" gave him the finger then I'd say give her another chance, if she didn't have the sense to hide it, then I'd probably say it depends on her record (e.g. she's been there forever, done a good job all that time, is well liked then I'd be more lenient)

As for the "both hands on the wheel" thing she wouldn't have been driving -- I assume, like every motor cade I've ever seen she would have been pulled over.

 

[poohandwendy]

Did the children actually see the gesture? I'm thinking about the way most buses are set up and most of the ways I picture it her hand is in front of her body.

If she "privately" gave him the finger then I'd say give her another chance, if she didn't have the sense to hide it, then I'd probably say it depends on her record (e.g. she's been there forever, done a good job all that time, is well liked then I'd be more lenient)
.

"The bus driver was terminated for making an obscene gesture in view of the students" I am thinking some of the kids must have seen it, in order for that conclusion to be drawn.

 

[Scutapipig]

Trust me. If my son were to have viewed that gesture, he would have freely used it thinking it was a new way of waving. LOL

I have to say, I've been trying to give the driver some lenience to figure out where she feels she has the right to ask for her job back, but I'm not seeing it. Of course, I've had issues with our own driver simply on where to stop the bus to pick up my children and had to take that to the Transportation Director before it was resolved. I'm sure that makes me a bit biased against the driver mentioned in the original post.