Accused of discrimination, bus driver fired

COTA couldn’t find reason for her strange behavior.

The Central Ohio Transit Authority bus driver who was accused of discriminating against a gay passenger has been fired.

COTA’s internal investigation into the June 2 incident determined that Jacquelyn A. Willis did not discriminate against the passenger, Ben Purdom, but the agency fired her anyway after a medical screening found no reason for her strange behavior.

In a letter to Willis dated July 15, COTA transportation Superintendent Roland Caldwell called Willis’ actions “egregious unbecoming conduct.”

The Dispatch obtained the letter Wednesday in response to a public records request.

Willis stopped the bus she was driving with two passengers, including Purdom, around 3:30 p.m. on June 2. She threatened to kick Purdom off the bus if his behavior continued, but she refused to tell Purdom what he was doing wrong.

Surveillance video on the bus shows Purdom sitting quietly in his seat near the back doors of the bus, occasionally glancing out the window and using his smartphone.

“I’m not going to accept you being on the bus and assault me,” Willis tells Purdom in the security video. “And then sit there like you’re doing nothing, but my body knows you’re doing something.”

Purdom started filming the incident on his phone after Willis stopped the bus. The two began to argue, with Purdom saying he wanted to continue his ride to work. A supervisor and police eventually responded to the incident. Video of the incident received more than 65,000 views on Facebook.

Willis told COTA officials that she believed Purdom was releasing an odorless substance on the bus that was causing her to have a headache. She lodged similar complaints in 2012 and 2013.

Willis agreed to submit to a medical screening before COTA decided whether she would keep her job. That exam found “no medical or psychological condition. that would cause the interaction,” according to Caldwell’s letter to Willis.

Because there was no medical problem that would have caused Willis to believe that Purdom was doing something wrong, the agency fired her.

Willis could not be reached for comment. Transport Workers Union Local 208 President Andrew Jordan did not return a call seeking comment on Wednesday.

“It’s either one of two things: she had issues she had medication for or it was legitimate discrimination,” Purdom said. “I’m glad COTA came to the right decision and terminated her. It sounds like she was just making that as an excuse to hide her true intentions.”