A North Carolina woman is suing Amtrak after she was violently raped on the passenger train by an employee as it passed by Wolf Point in 2015, alleging the carrier had the responsibility to protect her from employees such as her assailant, who had a long and "egregious disciplinary record."
The woman, 68 years old at the time, was taking a "bucket list" cross-country trip with her two sisters in 2015, and in April that year boarded the Empire Builder train in Washington, D.C. headed west. The woman had only been to five states before the trip, according to court documents filed earlier this month.
This incident will cost Amtrak "heap big" - and it should!
By now, Amtrak knows, or at least should, that they must be extra vigilant in the hiring process, and that the background check complete before one is ever hired - especially for public contact work. Even the Union, the ASWC, had to know this guy was "trouble", but they knew that if they did not defend him through all levels of the discipline and appeals process under the Railway Labor Act, he would turn around and seek damages under the "failure to represent" provisions of the Landrum-Griffin Act.
But the real losers - the vast majority of Amtrak employees who do their jobs courteously and efficiently - and all the time putting up with "crap" too voluminous to discuss here.
Posts: 9976 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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Reading through the article, looks like she should include the Union. Maybe that would reduce their enthusiasm in defense of this sort of person. Maybe it is time for the Union to develop a process of expulsion of members that deserve it.
Posts: 2808 | From: Olive Branch MS | Registered: Nov 2002
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Amtrak’s new CEO might just be the man to insure that employees are hired and work in accordance with Amtrak’s policies and expectations - not the unions. Apparently he had some success with Northwesern airlines before their merger with Delta.
Posts: 2397 | From: Camden, SC | Registered: Mar 2006
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It should not be surprising that the incident noted here is hardly the first of its kind. While the one reported on at this posting was not as severe, there is a message within it that absolutely astounds me that Amtrak has not addressed:
For CRYING OUT LOUD – they need armrests that can be put down when you are sitting next to someone who is a stranger to you. It makes it so that you are basically sitting in a loveseat shaped space with someone you don’t know!!!
Posts: 9976 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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For CRYING OUT LOUD – they need armrests that can be put down when you are sitting next to someone who is a stranger to you. It makes it so that you are basically sitting in a loveseat shaped space with someone you don’t know!!![/i]
But sometimes you can luck out flying. Maybe 10-12 years ago on a red-eye flight from Las Vegas to Charlotte, I had a window seat and my seatmate was a lovely college-age girl. Although we didn't share a single word, she slept through the entire flight with her head resting on my shoulder.
-------------------- Ocala Mike Posts: 1530 | From: Ocala, FL | Registered: Dec 2006
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