Late Friday afternoon, Sept. 11, Capital Metro notified ATU Local 1091 President Jay Wyatt that he is being fired for “sexual harassment.” It’s not as simple as that – nothing at Cap Metro ever is.
More bureaucratically precisely, Cap Metro subcontractor Star Tran (via General Manager Terry Garcia Crews) sent a letter to Wyatt informing him that he had failed to meet the company’s deadline to sign a sexual harassment policy statement and agree to attend a training workshop, and therefore would be terminated, effective Monday, Sept. 14. Wyatt and his attorney, Glenda Pittman, called the firing a “retaliation” for Wyatt’s aggressive union advocacy; Crews denied the charge.
The sexual harassment charges apparently stem from complaints made earlier this year by certain unnamed employees, but Crews said the complaints are confidential. Pittman also described the complaints as both confidential and anonymous – so that Wyatt cannot fairly respond to them – but appear to be “old and stale” complaints of crude behavior. “I curse,” said Wyatt bluntly. Late Friday, the union released a statement saying the complaints concern allegations of “inappropriate remarks to some female employees.” The union said the company charges remain in arbitration, and called them “ridiculous.”
We’ll have more on this story next week.
This article appears in September 11 • 2009.
