This just in from TriMet, regarding the driver who kicked two 14-year-old girls off the bus for kissing on June 8.

Operator faces discipline in incident involving 14-year old girls

TriMet today announced that a 64-year old male operator will face disciplinary action for an incident occurring on June 8, 2007 on Line 12-Barbur Blvd involving two 14-year old girls.

The discipline stems from the operator violating several agency procedures and policies while driving a bus. The operator has worked for TriMet for 11 years.

Background
At around 5 p.m. a rider complained to the operator that two riders were kissing on the bus. The operator approached them and later asked them to leave the bus. The riders’ actions did not warrant being removed from the bus, and TriMet policy requires operators to call for assistance before removing a minor off the bus.

“TriMet sincerely apologizes to the girls and their families for this incident. Removing the girls from the bus was not consistent with our policy. I want to reiterate that we welcome all riders on our system,” said TriMet General Manager Fred Hansen.

TriMet does not release details of the disciplinary proceedings or the final results of the proceedings, as protected by public records law. TriMet is not releasing the operator’s name per standard procedure when an employee is involved in a complaint.

One of the girls’ mom, Ronnda Zezula, is awaiting a call from a TriMet supervisor. In the interim, however, she says:

I am, with no evidence to the contrary, pretty unhappy with their lack of acknowledgement as to the reason the driver broke policy. I have no control over that, however. It does concern me that the girls were kicked off the bus at 4:50 pm, at which point the situation had gone on for about 15-20 minutes. If they don’t have their times straight, what else did they miss?