INSUBORDINATION OR RETALIATION ***updated

Originally published March 15, 2013

***UPDATED***

March 9th, Saturday around 10:30pm, I was driving outbound to Gresham.  While enroute at speed limit with a full standing load, a car suddenly ran a stop sign within a foot or two from the front of the bus. I slammed the brakes to avoid killing him but threw passengers into each other.  I called dispatch.  ****The dispatcher sounded as though he had just woke up from a nap. I had an opportunity to talk with him yesterday and day before. Each time he answered as though he had just woke up. I realized this is how he answers.  Dispatch is all about multi-tasking, he could've had a couple other calls going on at the same time.  I apologize for making the accusation.  He asked if there were injuries. I didn't know at that point. He asked that I continue driving to Gresham if there weren't.  I stated that I was shaken up and for safety reasons needed time to recover.  Plus the incident was serious enough that it needed a Supervisor to investigate. While on the phone I learned of one passenger who injured his leg and one broken cell phone.  Since I was still talking to dispatch I hadn't been able to determine the damage. 

I scrambled through the pouch but didn't find any witness cards or pencils. A Supervisor then arrived ANGRY!  He said right off, 'he didn't like the way I talked to dispatch.' This wasn't his usual shift and how I talked to dispatch wasn't his call. I suspected he was either on his second or third shift or working a day off.  I've known him since I've been with Trimet. Always friendly.  Always acknowledged each other and at other times had great conversations.  This was the first time he's investigated anything for me.  Nevertheless, THIS person WASN'T the same one I KNEW.  THIS guy was ANGRY, LOUD, UNPROFESSIONAL and treated me like I was a 'PIECE OF SHIT' in front of our passengers and a cop!  

Perhaps he should've been in my shoes, if even for a second and been grateful he didn't arrive to a scene filled with serious injuries or worse.  I was dealing with my own level of safety in terms of when I felt it was SAFE to again get in the seat and Operate the Bus.  My heart was pounding, my breathing was rough and my focus was gone.  Not unusual for this type of incident.  His public rage  against me only exacerbated the problem.

What the public doesn't know is that IN THE REAL WORLD, TRIMET SAFETY ISN'T AS MUCH OF AN ISSUE FOR THEM AS THEY WANT YOU TO BELIEVE!  But IT IS FOR THE OPERATORS - BUS, RAIL AND MAINTENANCE!  We are the one's who have the Agency's and the community's backs. Always have, always will.  BECAUSE If  SAFETY WAS TRULY AN ISSUE FOR TRIMET, THEN THEY WOULD BE SPENDING THE PUBLIC'S MONEY ON SAFETY, NOT ON EXECUTIVE SALARIES.    Operator's on the safety committee say Harry Saporta, Director of Safety (see youtube) says there's,  'No money!'

The Supervisor asked me to get witness cards filled out. I tried to tell him that the pouch didn't have any and wanted to know if he had some in his truck BUT he cut me off after just a few words and yelled, "DON'T TALK TO ME,  I DON'T WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!!!"  

This went on.  He'd come back and start talking about witness cards again then walk away yelling about something. At one point I asked if he was OK since I'd never seen this side of him.  He went ballistic.  'WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?!!!  HOW DARE YOU ACCUSE ME....!!! Now that I think back this particular exchange  from him felt more like a power trip then one concerned co-worker talking with another. 

I was embarrassed for the Supervisor and for Trimet not to mention myself.  I wished I could have taken him aside, privately to see if there was something I could do that would assist him in some way but knew better. He was too intense, too wired!  As I went about getting witness statements with a pen and piece of paper people were reacting to his behavior by reaching out to me asking if I was OK.  Complimenting me on avoiding what could've been.  Several people said they were "calling in" to witness the incident and the Supervisor.  What I know about Trimet is that any witness and or commendation calls over the phone won't arrive to employees who are RED FLAGGED.  What that means is that any employee who's ever reported Trimet to BOLI or sued Trimet and won, is treated differently (retaliated against) then other employees in similar circumstances.

His abuse continued. "DON'T TALK TO ME, I DON'T EVER WANT YOU TO TALK TO ME AGAIN, I DON'T WANT TO HEAR YOUR VOICE!!!"  According to the Garage Manager, if you're scheduled to be in service but need to make an emergency call you can be suspended or terminated even if the bus is turned  off and you walk two blocks away. I needed to make a call so I asked the Supervisor for permission. HE YELLED AT ME, "FOR THE THIRD TIME, YES!"  It wasn't the third time, just the first. At that, four men approached and gave me their names and phone numbers.  Not as witness to the incident but as witness specifically to the behavior of the Supervisor. His response to me for permission to make a call was the straw!  They had apparently been watching his interactions with me for quite a while. 

The Supervisor informed me that I was taking a taxi back to the garage and that "several" Managers were coming to talk to me and if it was up to him I'd never drive again.  It became very personal. I was quite literally stunned by the whole thing!  

When I arrived at the garage an Ass't Manager interviewed me.  After I left he caught up with me. HE SAID THE GARAGE MANAGER CALLED AGAIN INFORMING HIM THAT THE SUPERVISOR HAD NOW CHARGED ME WITH INSUBORDINATION.  He didn't know why but informed me I was officially on paid Administrative Leave.  Not exactly a vacation.  I saw twenty plus years going down the drain and the results are out of my hands.  The only thing that would save me are my witnesses - IF- the company calls them.  

No one was talking.  Same crap Peggy Callahan pulled.  Giving orders, making accusations and uninvestigated reprimands that CAN affect my career. My Union Rep later informed me that the Supervisor requested the data pack (video) from the bus BEFORE he could finish his written charge of insubordination.  According to everything I've read about the charge there are 5 specific behaviors which must be met before it can legally be considered. Trimet runs similarly to the world's socio hierarchy in that a BLUE shirt is the working class such as rail, bus operators and maintenance.  A WHITE shirt is professional, managerial or administrative as are Trimet's Road Operations - road supervisors, schedule writers, etc. The suits or skirts combined with brief cases and an ol' stokey are generally from the Elitists.  Truly a socio-economic class system from the first floor on up to the manner in which we're treated,  to the color of our clothes,  to the size of our pay and benefits.   

Within this system, a Supervisor's word is ALWAYS taken above that of a subordinate and so on up the chain of command.  An Operator doesn't stand a chance of being believed unless you have witness statements and a manager you can trust to make the calls or you happen to be married to the Director of Operations. He didn't ever give me a direct order in the form of, "I am ordering you..."  about anything that night unless he's talking about the witness cards and pencils.  I did get witnesses - not in our usual form but I got them in the only form that was available to me.  

Last Friday my Assistant Manager left a voice message saying that the data pack was BLANKED OUT as in 'not working' so I was cleared and off Administrative leave and life goes on.  

I talked with him again last Monday.  He told me he talked with the witness's and found I was telling the truth.  

REDEMPTION!  

I forgot to ask him what specific charge was filed against me but later e-mailed the question.  Haven't heard back yet. Keeping that type of information secret is an unfair labor practice. If I don't find out by the end of this next week I'll have to file a grievance. 

The Supervisor made several mistakes that night.  The most serious of them was that I WASN'T DRUG TESTED.  What that tells me is that the "charge of insubordination" didn't  really exist.  Had it, not only would I have been drug tested but he would have had to generate something IN WRITING - THAT NIGHT - which complied with the 5 specific behaviors of charging insubordination BEFORE they could officially put me on ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE.   I believe that after the data pack was retrieved and viewed,  it was determined that... 

1.)  it would end up looking bad for the Supervisor. 

2.)  I could capture it from Public Records, so...

3.)  they should probably just destroy it.

And since I have lots of experience with how Trimet operates against those who don't conform to their brand of politics,  they'll continue sleeping well,  believing that I received their message as was intended.  Yes, I got your message.  Thanks for the paid time off but "no", I won't quit blogging about Peggy Callahan's unethical practices to the BOLI Investigator in my continuing series 'WORKPLACE BULLYING',  but thanks anyways!

NOT ME,  I LOVE MY JOB - IT'S THE POLITICS THAT SUCK!!!

***UPDATE***  I don't do this type of work to get a thumbs up because it comes with the territory. But, what I do expect is that my employer including all levels of Management and  Supervisors understand the intensity and risks of it and know they have my back no matter what. That they understand I am not a part of the 1% who screws up and ends up on the news.  That they understand the nature of what we do and treat their Operators / Union workers accordingly and with respect.  That they be required to Operate a Bus and train in revenue service once a month. A day shift and a night shift.  There needs to be a discussion about the manner in which Trimet co-exists with their Union workers.  Large employers, corporations, etc have always used abuse as a means of managing but you know from experience and statistics that mountains have moved through good moral.  What the public reads or hears about Trimet are formal prepared marketed statements from the legal department through overpaid spokespeople, but what the public experiences about Trimet comes from that moment when we open the door.  

The damage done to our CUSTOMER SERVICE by the Supervisor that night may not be repairable, even  over time so you might want to enroll him in a few classes or back to a blue shirt if his  behavior that night was a repeat performance!