Union: Fired worker was only defending herself from drunken, out of control lout swinging his cell phone at her

Within 20 years it will be illegal to point a cellphone camera into someones face in public without their permission. The law might say there will be 10 feet or something, but it will happen someday.

Expanded Video Shows Disgruntled Rider Targeting MBTA Worker During Confrontation at Back Bay Station

Rider Initiated An Earlier Confrontation With Same Customer Service T Worker

Boston - - Video released by the Boston Carmen’s Union Local 589 shows a disgruntled commuter rail passenger targeting a MBTA worker prior to a confrontation at the Back Bay Train station. The passenger told the MBTA and media outlets that he took out a cellphone after the worker refused to provide him with information but the video clearly shows the disgruntled passenger walking through the train station and toward the worker with his cellphone already out and pointed at the employee.

“This man backed a female employee into a corner and, according to her statement, hit her in the face with his cellphone during a confrontation he initiated,” explained Boston Carmen’s Union Representative Larry Kelly. “She was trapped in a corner of the station with her back literally ‘against the wall’ and took action to put distance between her and an aggressive male customer. She feared for her safety”.

The expanded video shows what happened prior to the physical confrontation between the T worker and a passenger who admitted he had been drinking prior to the fight. The Boston Carmen’s Union also revealed that the same passenger had initiated an earlier confrontation directing vulgar language toward and sticking his finger in the face of the female MBTA worker.

‘This is an exemplary employee with three years on the job and no customer complaints in her file,” said Local 589 Vice President John Lee. “This male passenger targeted a female worker not once but twice. If he had taken the same actions against a female passenger at the Back Bay station there is a good possibility he would have been facing assault charges but because it is a woman MBTA worker then she must be at fault. That is disgraceful logic.”

The Boston Carmen’s Union Local 589 intends to take all actions necessary to defend members working on the MBTA and this union members’ right to a full and fair hearing said Lee.

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Gee, I imagine if I'd been sent on an hour-plus detour because of poor information (whether it was outright lie or not, we'll never know), I *might* be a tad belligerent with the woman who I felt sent me on a wild goose chase.

But I don't care how much of him pulling out his phone footage they have before the incident. She not only swings at him, she starts kicking at him too once she was well out of her "corner" where she felt "unsafe". She didn't appreciate his tone and felt a fight brewing and was more than willing to be complicit in the assholishness growing between the two of them.

Her moves weren't defensive and she had more than enough opportunity to escape the situation and get the MBTA police...but decided to go toe-to-toe with the guy instead.

No complaints on her file? Based on my experience trying to file a complaint against a T driver its nearly impossible to get a complaint started. I asked a driver who was leaving a bus at Forest Hills when the bus would be leaving again her reply was "You can look at schedule if you wanna know" to which I said "You cant just tell me?" She seemed really pissed and told "I'm going on break and dont have to tell you shit". I immediately went to look for a manager but none could be found. I took down the bus number and time and emailed the bus supervisor. Never got a reply. Placed a call to the T and they basically pretended to take a report, when I would call back to speak to the ever missing manager they would claim to have no record of my prior calls... This went on for a couple of weeks before I gave up which I suspect was the intent of the run around.

This is just absurd, theres video of a man being attacked by a public employee in uniform. This is unacceptable regardless of what preceded it and the union should be more concerned with weeding out bad apples than using twisted logic to defend them.