Fired B.C. school bus driver who used phone while driving deserved to lose job: arbitrator

A labour arbitrator has ruled that a northern B.C. school bus driver who was fired for using her phone while driving at work deserved to lose her job.

The incident happened last November in Chetwynd. Legal documents published in October say the driver was photographed “holding her cell phone in her left hand to her left ear by a student sitting behind her.”

The student is said to have shown the photo to their parent, who brought it to the Employer’s Operation coordinator.

The driver was notified a day later that a photo was taken of her while on the phone and driving. The driver’s contract was terminated the following week.

“The letter of termination alleges a serious lapse in safety protocol and a violation of the Employer’s Cell Phone/Electronic Device Policy, which the grievor had acknowledged understanding on November 26, 2019, and also on September 21, 2020,” the document reads.

Call was to help another bus driver stuck in snow, grievor says

Evidence shows the driver testified on her own behalf to explain what had happened that day. The documents say the driver was working her route with children on board when she heard over a two-way radio that another bus had gotten stuck in some snow.

The driver says she told her supervisor that she would get her husband to help, noting he had assisted another bus earlier in the day. When the supervisor agreed, the driver is said to have asked her eight-year-old son, who was on the bus with her, to call her husband using her cell phone.

The driver asked her son to explain where the stuck bus was located but notes he had “difficulty conveying the location and called out ‘Mom, mom.'”

The child passed the phone to her, at which time the driver was able to relay the message to her husband.

“The grievor testified that at the time she was on the phone the road was clear of traffic and presented no danger. She added she was not distracted but acknowledged the law views her conduct differently,” the documents read.

“The cell phone provider records show the call was rounded up to be 3 minutes in length in total, and this includes the time the grievor’s son was on the phone. The grievor’s husband indicated he spent the great majority of the call speaking with his son, and at most thirty seconds with his wife.”

‘Serious lack of judgment’

The driver’s union has argued that while the employee deserved to be disciplined, firing her was “excessive,” adding she had “no previous discipline on file and she has not shown herself to be unable or unwilling to respond to progressive discipline.”

The woman’s lawyer notes the driver “made a brief isolated mistake” in taking the phone call, but adds that at the time, “she felt the matter was an emergency, as children were in the bus that was stuck, and it was a cold winter day.”

However, the arbitrator disagreed, saying the driver repeatedly expressed feeling “betrayed” by the student who took the photo of her.

The arbitrator says the driver showed a “serious lack of judgment concerning children” and failed to take responsibility for her actions — which gave plenty of justification for her to be fired.