Union: MBTA Recommends Driver In Violent Confrontation With Rider Be Fired

BOSTON (CBS) -- The MBTA has recommended that the driver captured on cell phone video involved in a violent confrontation with a rider be fired, according to the Boston Carmen's Union, which represents MBTA employees.

The video, shot by passenger Ben Mohr on December 20, showed a rider arguing with the driver on the number 1 bus which runs from Dudley station to Harvard Square.

According to Mohr, the man demanded the driver to pull over at a part of the route that was not a designated bus stop.

"She was professional the whole way through up until the end," Mohr told WBZ-TV's Julie Loncich at the time.

The rider spat on the driver before getting off the bus.

The driver was then seen arguing with the rider on the sidewalk. She swung a wooden block at the rider which knocked him to the ground.

MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo told WBZ-TV Saturday the bus driver had reported the incident to her supervisors but did not mention that she hit the man on the head with a wooden block.

"He went down like a ton of bricks," Mohr said. "People clapped for her when she got on the bus."

Mohr said he hoped his video will call attention to the abuse some bus drivers receive.

Pesaturo would not confirm the Carmen's union claim that the T is recommending the driver be fired.

"The MBTA is prohibited from discussing specific disciplinary actions against employees," he told WBZ-TV.

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