Anti-abortion bus driver gets settlement

[GT WT]

Edwin Graning, a bus driver for Central Area Rural Transportation System (CARTS) refused to drive two women to Planned Parenthood fearing that they were going for abortions. He was fired. He brought suit.

Now, he's being given a $21K settlement by CARTS.
The Link

 

[mcbrett]

In reply to:

---

---

 

[Perham1]

So the bus drive, a city/municipal employee I gather, who is also a Christian minister, evidently thought his faith trumped his obligations as a city employee.

He didn't know if those women were going to Planned Parenthood for an abortion or for a Pap smear.

 

[THEU]

After reading that, I don't understand why dispatch couldn't have just sent someone else and then the matter would have been cleared up rather easily with NO legal wrangling at all.
Maybe some secular humanist or atheist doesn't want to take someone to church. Ok. Don't you think within the workforce they could figure that out. It just seems like some simple common sense could have averted this entire thing.

 

[Perham1]

Maybe some secular humanist or atheist doesn't want to take someone to church.

Do you have any evidence of this happening? Or do you merely wish to fabricate fanciful counter-arguments with no basis in fact?

There are many Xtians who refuse to do their job, to serve the public, because of their faith. Look at pharmacists, who are supposed to be "professionals" who refuse to distribute medicine because of their faith issues.

But if you can come up with a story about an atheist who refuses to drive a customer to church, have at it. I'm not holding my breath.

 

[THEU]

Perham,
I apologise if I made that sound as if I know it has happened. I know posted that as a hypothetical. How about this one... Cabbies who are Muslim in NYC who refuse to take passengers carrying alcohol? Is that a better one?
Perhaps so. If someone wants a ride to a liquor store and a Muslim doesn't want to take them, are there not other drivers that can be dispatched. I didn't mean it as a slap to atheists or Christians, or any group. Just as a seems a way that dispatch could have worked out a simple solution BEFORE lawyers were involved. My point was not to implicate nor defend anyone.

 

[Perham1]

Cabbies who are Muslim in NYC who refuse to take passengers carrying alcohol?

Are the cabbies municipal employees?

If municipal employees can refuse to perform their job (as well as professionals (pharmacists) who have a duty to provide services to their public) because of a religious reason - and here the bus driver had no idea whether the women were getting an abortion or going for a Pap smear, he just "thought" it might be an abortion - then where is the line to be drawn?

I don't think you should ride the bus on the sabbath. In fact, I don't think I should have to work on the sabbath. What are reasonable accommodations?

Sadly, there will be many who will applaud this bus driver's actions.

 

[NEWDOC2002]

In reply to:

---

---

 

[YoLaDu]

In reply to:

---

---

 

[Dionysus]

In reply to:

---

---

 

[Perham1]

I think attributing the bus driver's actions to his faith may be too generous.

He didn't know if the women were getting an abortion. He only thought so, and based on that he refused them service.

What if this man thinks that some woman may be going to Planned Parenthood tomorrow, and thus refuses to let her get on the bus today? Let's hear it for his faith! He is living by his convictions!

Christians are highly selective when it comes to deciding which of their convictions they choose to follow. Nowadays, it just happens to be popular to protest against abortion and gays.

 

[general35]

I understand it was a math decision for them- but still, some things are worth the expense of defending- like the principle that people are paid to do a job, and should they refuse for personal reasons- they are subject to losing their job. This story is sad and depressing.
__________________________________________________

if only it was that easy. it is basically impossible for a company to fire anyone anymore. state workers never get fired unless they molest or kill someone. its why the union arguments are so weak today because of the laws in place. there are many more cases than this that are much more depressing and costly. lawyers and our courts have created a litigious society. i have a friend that works at a firm that does nothing but represent school districts against suits for things as silly as recieving bad grades. just yesterday i heard about a case that is being filed because a guy who was an umpire at a little league game decided to get in his car and drive home with the chest protector on. he got in the car and the chest protector got stuck in a wierd place and he choked to death. sad story but **** happens. the solution has been to sue the chest protector company. i guess the guy needed a warning label about driving and wearing chest protectors.

 

[ProdigalHorn]

I've always felt like as a Christian it's a pretty slippery slope to take responsibility for someone else's action in the course of your daily life, assuming your daily life isn't directly involved in the activities you're trying to avoid. (Big difference between being a cab driver and being a shuttle driver for a strip club, for example.)

If I'm a bus driver and I feel responsible for taking someone to planned parenthood, then am I not also responsible for the guy who's taking the bus to go cheat on his spouse, or go to a bar and get drunk or whatever other activity I may not approve? If you're taking that job, you're taking it for the purpose of transporting people to wherever they want to go, and if that's an issue, it's not something you should be doing.

 

[AustinTejasFan]

"some simple common sense could have averted this entire thing."

He could have just done his ******* job.

 

[NickDanger]

One thing that might make a difference in thinking is that this deal sounds a lot like ViaTrans in SA. A PUBLICLY funded civic service paid for in some sort of cooperative deal between neighboring counties. I'm probably not correct, but also probably close enough for the purpose. My daughter uses ViaTrans in SA as she is disabled although she can use VIA as well which is just your regular old bus. If this were the regular old bus, I don't think the bus driver would even know where the ladies were heading. With the ViaTrans, you have to call ahead (sometimes days ahead) and give a pickup time and an address as well as an arrival time and address. We've all heard the jokes about the short bus and they have some of those, but they also have sedans (usually crossovers now). They don't have regular routes, they have appointments. Makes you wonder if the driver might have been aware of his customers' pickup and destination locations before the ugly ball got rolling?