Just wanna say way to go Metro Transit…….
—what were they thinking?
This article appears in Apr 16-22, 2009.
Way to go Metro Transit- or how to deal with employees that are unstable
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Ah yes, the armchair expert. Second guessing is easy when there aren’t any consequences or higher ups/lowly masses to answer to, isn’t it?
This man did not deserve to be fired, despite his unprofessional behavior. Suspended for a week, yes, fired – that’s pretty harsh. The poor guy had a blocked artery to his brain and was on anti-depressent meds so his behavior doesn’t seem so surprising. Sounds like he was a nice guy – it’s really a shame he didn’t realize the impact this has had on his wife and child. He must have just snapped.
Does anyone know if there is any form of counseling provided to bus drivers? If not, they should, I can’t image driving a bus every day to be easy, and there are many high stress jobs that do have this kind of service available..just curious. As well, not condoning Metro’s action’s in anyway but I do believe that this man had kept his health problems to himself? I’m really sorry to hear that this happened, I can’t even begin to imagine what his family must be going through right now
This incident is very tragic, but let’s not dump this all on MT’s lap, that is not fair nor right. If the man was depressed enough to commit suicide, he would have done it anyway.
First of all how many of your empolyers know your medical/psychiatric health? Very few I bet. People get fired everyday but do not commit suicide. I have no doubt if he or any employee of any company went to the bosses looking for help they would get it. Governments on every level have employee assistance programs to deal with addictions, mental health problems etc.
Is this referring to the seal clubbing bus-driver? Because that was hilarious!
The blockage in the artery in his brain, from what I read could have caused him to have a stroke and cognitive impairment in judgement…definitely not someone who should be driving a bus, BUT, the ONLY reason they fired him was because they were out to make an example, and this was a pretty publicized incident, so why not make a PR statement and say “we are responsible!”…Given his health issues, long term disability would’ve probably been the appropriate thing, OR perhaps another position within MT maybe in maintenance, or whatever. It’s pretty traumatizing to lose a job with that type of pay over something you really don’t know why you did it in the first place…his wife had said he had told her he didn’t really know why had did what he did…I feel really really sad for his family.
I do want to note, that, just because one is on anti depressants does not mean they’re crazy. These days everyone and their dog is on some sort of SSRI/SDRI/SNRI for various reasons…doesn’t mean they’re all crazy. Most are just sad, or anxious, or whatever.
true true, and I’m not saying that people are taking these med’s don’t need them….especially in this case…but doctor’s are over prescribing them as well as every other prescription drug
Ooooh I agree completely: doctors hand out ADs like candy these days.
Proper course of action for being prescribed an SSRI/SNRI/SDRI or any other form of psychiatric medication should include an actual psychiatrist. But all too often people go into their GP’s office, claim they’re sad or whatever and get a prescription handed to them for paxil or prozac or zoloft or whatever….it’s SAD and gives everyone who genuinely NEEDS them a bad rep.
Money Money Money
Also, I forgot to add: it just bugs me that they media is making a big deal about the fact that this guy was on ADs…it’s like they’re screaming “HE MUST’VE BEEN CRAZY IF HE WAS ON ANTI DEPRESSANTS!!!!!”….when I can bet you half those fuckers are on them or have been on them at some point.
ADs are insanely expensive, FA. 50-100 bucks a month depending on what you’re on…meanwhile a benzo like ativan is like 10 bucks. RIDICULOUS.
AND! the makers of celexa were about to lose their patent and to keep the money rolling in they developed a new AD so they could cash in on that because with the generic celexa being produced, they wouldn’t get that revenue.
Kind of like how I’m convinced a certain multi billion dollar insulin producer will block any real progress in curing the ‘betes because it will likely cut into their CEO’s billion dollar a year bonus. I hate drug companies.
I wonder what were the complaints his coworkers had which were mentioned in the CH article.
Metro Transit should have never fired him.
He did leave the bus parked, running, with passengers on it, ON A BUS STOP. Other drivers do that all the time to run into a Tim Hortons that is close to a bus stop.
He never clubbed a real animal. I guess if you are against the seal hunt, then it was wrong and if you are for the seal hunt, he wasn’t.
Those protest fuckers are the ones who were in the wrong if you ask me. They have no idea about the seal hunt. There is no difference in slaughtering a seal or slaughtering any other animal that humans consume. The seal doesn’t suffer.
As much as it pisses me off that Metro Transit fired him, the only one to blame for taking his life was him.
There are 2 sides to every story.
I’m not touching this one with the mood I’m in…
just another stain on MT as far as the paper’s are concerned.
I honestly feel sad for the guy. MT fired him because the public wanted his head for the incident, and MT needed to make an example. MT not being aware of his mental illness doesn’t surprise me. The only support your employer provides in that area are those crappy over the phone employee assistance programs, so in a lot of cases, the employer is unaware and doesn’t want to know. Not to mention too, still to this day, there is a significant stigma associated with mental illness. This hardly MT’s fault in full, although they are to blame for not providing a proper support structure.
They are going to re evaluate why he was fired this week.
But it’s a little late
I understand there will be finger pointing and a lot of what-ifs over the next few days. Hopefully, long term, we can learn from this incident and prevent it from happening to someone else. I felt bad when I heard about it on Sunday, thinking it had to be a joke but probably wasn’t since all stories about it were the same. No doubt many drivers yesterday morning broke down when they walked by the newspaper box outside our front door (“BUS DRIVER HANGS SELF” on the front page, that edition was removed from the box). It is a sad tale as the man had a blunt sense of humour and was always a great conversationalist. He’d have made a fine LTWWBer. RIP
I hope those protesters are happy with themselves after using that spectacle as their soapbox for the seals…
Over on the herald site, some people are commenting on it wasn’t the protesters fault that he was fired, this man had a concealed weapon, we were scared. Grow the fuck up. Many people have concealed weapons, in case they haven’t noticed Halifax is getting more dangerous (we are in the top 10 worse cities) and it is not a bad idea to have something to defend yourself with. Anyone else notice that since the Angel’s left quite a few years back that crime has proliferated?
PDG: I have a question — there was this older gentleman who drove the bus: he had glasses and white hair and was kind of portly….he’d drive the 18 all the time and was THE sweetest person EVER. Even if you were exiting from the back he’d always say bye and tell you to have a nice day and when you got on the bus he always asked you how your day was going like he actually cared….I haven’t seen him in a long time…is he still around? He was as awesome as the notorious singing bus driver in ottawa who sings to his passengers on the bus PA system (and he’s really good at it)…
I keep trying to remember if I had Mr Little for a driver at any point…usually I get the same ones and I can’t remember him, but I honestly think A LOT of MT drivers get a bad rep for no good reason. sure there are jerks out there, but overall drivers in Hfx are pretty damn nice compared to other cities I’ve been in.
R.I.P. mr. Little.
no matter if i agree or disagree with your protest, your treatment was unfair at the least.
Purple beards and ‘stache day is needed for commemoration!
ahhh K that’s a good idea, I wish there was a way to actually do that..
I have two regular bus drivers. One who drives the 52 at 7:15am. Who wears glasses and sunglasses on top of his head. And this guy. He was such a nice guy. The guy with the goatee. He made me smile – and he was friendly. I’ll miss him. I go past MT everyday, and saw the flag, then I read the paper when I got to work.
R.I.P dude.
When my wife told me who the Transit Driver was, I was shocked. I liked him. My wife and I will miss him.
Can anyone tell me what routes Mr. Little drove you on regularly? He looks familiar, but I’m really not sure if I’ve had him or not.
I’d like to send a card of condolence to his family….anyone have any idea on how I could do that?
There is a facebook group…don’t know the name it’s under though
It’s under the name “RIP Dann Little”
PK: I only know one driver who drives the 18 regularly, and he is not who you describe. 🙁 I work mainly nights at the moment so I don’t see a lot of the senior drivers. The man with the blue/purple/green beard drove the 1 on Saturdays, of that I was sure. He also had a hand in driving the 52, but I can’t remember what day it was. He used to take me to HSC to start my work day.
The group is called “R.I.P Dann Little” for those who want to leave condolences.
Hmm I’m just wondering if he’s retired. I haven’t seen him in a good year or so, and I generally see the same people driving the 18 (for the past 3.5 years, actually)…not sure what it is, but I’ve ALWAYS had the friendliest drivers on the 18, especially during the day.
i knew dann,and he was quirky,but a fun guy generally.the ones really to blame,are the posters on the herald site.they were screaming for him to be fired before they even knew what was going on.and that woman from the seal thing,wrote there today,how sorry to hear of him hanging himself.what a fucken hypocrite.you have to think sometimes before you want blood,there could be an inner reason behind someone’s outburst.we will all miss dann,the people and his family that knew him,or of him.this took guts to do,and should not be tossed off lightly.r.i.p. dann little.