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Portland, OR, United States (AHN) – A Portland bus driver has been fired after he was seen apparently reading a Kindle while operating a bus through morning highway traffic last week.

TriMet officials say Lahcen Qouchbane posed “an immediate threat to public safety,” in addition to violating the agency’s policy.

A rider on the Line 96 bus took a cell-phone video of Qouchbane appearing to read his Amazon Kindle while traversing the wet and slick roadway on Interstate 5 on Sept. 16. At one point he used his elbow to steer the bus while looking down at his electronic book reader, which was placed behind the wheel.

Qouchbane’s attorney contends his client wasn’t actually reading.

A spokeswoman for TriMet contends that Qouchbane was. As soon as reports and the video went viral on the Internet, TriMet pulled Qouchbane from the bus and he was placed on paid administrative leave. He was fired Wednesday.

This is the second time Qouchbane was fired by the agency. He began driving for TriMet in 2000 and was first fired in 2006 for contact with a customer that was deemed as “posing an immediate threat to public safety,” according to spokeswoman Bekki Witt.

He filed a grievance after the firing and via mediation he was awarded his job back in October 2007 after being given a 30-day suspension.

View full post on Labor Stories

Portland, OR, United States (AHN) – A Portland bus driver has been fired after he was seen apparently reading a Kindle while operating a bus through morning highway traffic last week.

TriMet officials say Lahcen Qouchbane posed “an immediate threat to public safety,” in addition to violating the agency’s policy.

A rider on the Line 96 bus took a cell-phone video of Qouchbane appearing to read his Amazon Kindle while traversing the wet and slick roadway on Interstate 5 on Sept. 16. At one point he used his elbow to steer the bus while looking down at his electronic book reader, which was placed behind the wheel.

Qouchbane’s attorney contends his client wasn’t actually reading.

A spokeswoman for TriMet contends that Qouchbane was. As soon as reports and the video went viral on the Internet, TriMet pulled Qouchbane from the bus and he was placed on paid administrative leave. He was fired Wednesday.

This is the second time Qouchbane was fired by the agency. He began driving for TriMet in 2000 and was first fired in 2006 for contact with a customer that was deemed as “posing an immediate threat to public safety,” according to spokeswoman Bekki Witt.

He filed a grievance after the firing and via mediation he was awarded his job back in October 2007 after being given a 30-day suspension.

View full post on Labor Stories

Portland, OR, United States (AHN) – A Portland bus driver has been fired after he was seen apparently reading a Kindle while operating a bus through morning highway traffic last week.

TriMet officials say Lahcen Qouchbane posed “an immediate threat to public safety,” in addition to violating the agency’s policy.

A rider on the Line 96 bus took a cell-phone video of Qouchbane appearing to read his Amazon Kindle while traversing the wet and slick roadway on Interstate 5 on Sept. 16. At one point he used his elbow to steer the bus while looking down at his electronic book reader, which was placed behind the wheel.

Qouchbane’s attorney contends his client wasn’t actually reading.

A spokeswoman for TriMet contends that Qouchbane was. As soon as reports and the video went viral on the Internet, TriMet pulled Qouchbane from the bus and he was placed on paid administrative leave. He was fired Wednesday.

This is the second time Qouchbane was fired by the agency. He began driving for TriMet in 2000 and was first fired in 2006 for contact with a customer that was deemed as “posing an immediate threat to public safety,” according to spokeswoman Bekki Witt.

He filed a grievance after the firing and via mediation he was awarded his job back in October 2007 after being given a 30-day suspension.

View full post on Labor Stories