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Driver Tells Gay Couple “Get Off The Bus”
Danny_Silver
Posts: 902 Forum Member
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A gay couple told of their anger after they were thrown off a London bus by a driver who gave them a volley of homophobic abuse for kissing.
Jack James, 23, and his partner were on a number 89 bus near Blackheath when the driver ordered them off following an anti-gay rant, they claim.
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/my-bus-my-rules-what-driver-told-kissing-gay-couple-before-he-kicked-them-off-9805086.html
http://www.lbc.co.uk/driver-tells-gay-couple-get-off-the-bus-98978
Should the driver get the sack or go for a diversity training?
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Surely the best thing would be to wait until both sides are looked in to, I struggle to see how a driver driving a bus could have noticed a peck on the lips.
But before suggesting sacking or diversity training I think the bus company should be allowed to investigate and view the CCTV, we cannnot keep automatically siding with complainants without allowing the accused person a chance to explain or provide evidence for their case.
It don't make him some evil prick.
Then perhaps he should isolate himself from society.
Otherwise tough titties.
He is there to drive a bus not monitor who is kissing, if he cannot handle the diverse passengers he is in the wrong job.
So long as he keeps those thoughts to himself and doesn't let it affect his job (which in this case he has failed badly) then he should be fine.
Sometimes I have trouble seeing a man and a woman kissing. Tough luck for me too.
Therefore Im wondering what actually happened. This bloke is now said to be 'on leave' and I wonder if he had some sort o breakdown prompting his outburst. Apparently his employer will raise this issue with him on his return which makes me think his leave is not about the incident.
He also doesnt seem to have chucked them off, they got off at their stop.
Did he object to overly sexualised behaviour, whatever the sexuality of the participants or is he just a raging bigot.
Time will tell Im sure.
You've sussed them out
Yep, what both of these said.
The situation is sounding less and less what the OP Title suggests though I confess I have not read the links.
Punishment by all means, but just enough to shake their real life just like he affected their real life.
Why stop there? Bring back the stocks. And scrap this trial business, just shoot from the hip.
If, however, it is as it says on the tin and the account is accurate then I'd certainly have no qualms about suspending the driver pending some diversity training. In the current employment climate, I wouldn't personally want his ignorance to cost him his job, especially if he has a family to support.
It doesn't make him evil, no. But it only requires a modicum of intelligence to realise that just because you are the bus driver, you cannot dictate what customers do *unless* it is something illegal or causing a nuisance. Whilst PDAs are not everyone's cup of tea, they happen and are legal and I suspect are not against the conditions of carriage. As such it would be nothing to do with the driver.
As others have said, though, it's up to the operator to investigate the claim and decide if a disciplinary action is warranted.
That's what I'm thinking.
I once read a blog by an anonymous London bus driver who shared his experiences of working on a night-bus route. Drunk passengers--some vomited; heroin takers, quarrelsome pensioners, fighting couples, children who were accidentally left behind, bad singers, lost and often odd property, etc. If those stories are true, all bus drivers have my respect.
If you work with the public, you cannot choose who to serve, and who not to serve....
They're fond of emotive language because it sells stories. Also misrepresents them because it sensationalises them. "Driver verbally abuses two passengers" may be a lot closer to the truth.